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28X 


32X 


lire 

details 
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jer  une 
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dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  seion  le 
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symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 


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et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
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TRAVELS 


XV 


NOETH    A  ¥  ERIC  A, 

nr  THE  TBAHS  1841-2  j 
With 

GEOLOGICAL   OBSERVATIONS 

ON 

THE    UNITED   STATES. 

CANADA,  AND  NOVA  SCOTIA. 


BY  CHARLES  LTEIl,  ESQ..  F.R.8. 

AUTHOR  OF  THE  PRINCIPLES   OP  OEOLOOT. 


WITHOUT   THE   LAEGER   PLATES. 
IN   TWO    VOLUMES. 

VOL.   I. 

NEW  YORK: 
WILEY     &      HALSTED 

No,   861    BROADWAY. 
Ifl5f5. 


Lpn    C, 


Tl 


GEORGE   TICKNOR,   ESQ,, 


OF  BOSTON,  MASSACHUSETTS. 


My  dear  Mr.  Ticknor, 

I  am  glad  to  have  your  permission  to  dedicate 
these  vohimes  to  you,  in  remembrance  of  the  many 
happy  days  spent  in  your  society,  and  in  that  of  your 
family  and  literary  friends  at  Boston  ;  a  remembrance 
which  would  be  without  alloy,  were  it  not  for  my 
frequent  regrets  that  the  broad  Atlantic  should  sep- 
arate so  many  congenial  souls  whom  we  both  of  us 
number  among  our  friends  in  Europe  and  America. 
Believe  me, 

With  feelings  of  great  regard, 
Ever  faithfully  yours, 

Charles  Lyell. 
London,  June  12, 1845. 


i 

it: 


V  J 


'   !  - 

it' 


I 


PREFACE. 


TiiK  reader  is  reminded  that  the  general  map  of  the  genloj^y 
rjf  the  United  States  and  Canada  forms  the  frontispiece  of  the 
feecond  volume,  and  that  the  line  of  my  route  is  traced  upon  it 
in  the  manner  described  in  the  explanation  of  the  map  at  Vol 
II.  p.  238 

As  the  present  work  embraces  a  great  variety  of  subjects  to 
which  my  thoughts  were  turned  during  my  travels  in  North 
America,  I  have  endeavoured  to  confine  myself  as  far  as  |)ossi- 
ble  to  the  communication  of  such  scientific  matter  as  I  thought 
might  be  of  interest  to  the  general  reader.  For  a  more  detailed 
account  of  my  geological  observations  alluded  to  in  the  course 
of  these  volumes,  I  must  refer  to  the  following  published  papers 
and  abstracts  of  memoirs  read  to  the  Geological  Society  of  Lon- 
don. 

1.  Letter  to  Dr.  Fitton  on  the  Blossberg  Coal  District  and 
Stigrraria  :  Proceedings  of  the  Geological  Society,  vol. 
iii.  p.  554.  1841. 

2.  Recession  of  the  Falls  of  Niagara :  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  595. 

1842.     Resumed,  vol.  iv.  p.  19.  1843. 

3.  Tertiary  Formations  in  Virginia  and  otL.      arts  of  the 

United  States:  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  735.  1842. 

4.  Fossil  Foot-Prints  of  Birds  and  Impressions  of  Rain-drops 

in  Connecticut  Valley.     Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  793.  1842. 
6.  Tertiary  Strata  of  Martha's  Vineyard  in  Massachusetts : 

Ibid,  vol  iv.  p.  31.  1843. 
6.  On  the  Geological  Position  of  the  Mastodon  giganteus, 

and  other  Remains  at  Big  Bone  Lick,  Kentucky,  and 

other  Localities  in  the  United  States.     Ibid.  vol.  iv.  p. 

36.  1843. 


VI 


PREFACE. 


7.  On  iiprip;lit  Fossil  Trors  fmind  in  tlio  Ciuil  Srrnta  of  Cnm« 

berlaml,  Nnvu   Scotiu :   i>iUiiuans  Journal,  vol.  xlv.  No. 

2.  p.  .^5;3.  iri43. 

8.  Coul    Foniintions,  Gypsum,  and   Marine  Limestones  of 

Novu  Scotia  :  Jhid.  p.  35G. 

9.  l^'d  of  I'luuihnpo  and  Anthracite  in  Mica-'-chist,  near  Wor- 
cester, Massachusetts,  with  Appendix  containing  Aualysea 
by  Dr.  Percy  :  Quarterly  Journ.  of  Gcol.  Hoc.  No.  2.  p. 
41G.     May,  1845. 

10.  Cretaceous  Strata  of  New  Jersey,  with  Appendix,  on  the 
Fossil  Corals  of  the  same,  by  Mr.  Lonsdale :  Ibid'  No. 
1.  p.  301.     Feb.  1845. 

11.  Miocene  Formations  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  &:c., 
with  Appendix,  on  Fossil  Corals,  by  Mr.  Lonsdale :  read 
to  the  Geol.  Soc.,  March,  1845.  Preparing  for  publica- 
tion, Ibid.  No.  4. 

12.  On  the  White  Limestone  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia, 

and  the  Eocene  Strata  of  other  parts  of  the  U.  S.,  with 
Appendix,  on  the  Corals,  by  Mr.  Lonsdale  :  read  to  the 
Geol.  Soc.,  March,  1845.  Preparing  for  publication,  Ibid. 
No.  4. 

Abstracts  of  most  of  these  papers  have  alst)  appeared  in  Sil- 
liman's  "  American  Journal  of  Science  and  Arts,"  for  the  cor- 
responding years. 

London,  June  14th,  1845. 


CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME    I. 


CHAPTER  I 

Voyage. — Harlionr  of  Halifax. — Excursions  near  Boston. — Dif- 
ference of  Plants  from  Kuropean  .Species,  ami  Cnrri'-Sjoii- 
dence  of  Marine  Sliolls— Resemblance  of  Drift,  Krritics, 
and  Furrowed  Roclo,  to  lliose  of  Sweden. — S|ning'ud(l. — 
i\e\v  Hjven. — Scenery  of  the  Hudson. — .Mbany. — (ieclii;!- 
cal  Surveys.— Moliawk  Valley. — Ancient  or  Siliuian  Forma- 
tiois — Prosperity  and  rapid  Progress  of  the  People  — 
Lake  Ontario. — Tortoises. — Fossil  Remains  of  Mastodon 


PAOI 


1 


CHAPTER  H. 

Distant  and  near  View  of  the  Falls  of  Niagara. — Whether 
the  Falls  have  receded  from  Queenston  to  their  present 
Site. — Geographical  Features  of  the  Region. — Course  of 
tlie  River  above  and  below  the  Falls. — Recent  Proofs  of 
Erosion. — Historical  Data  in  the  Works  of  Hennepin  and 
Kalm. — Geological  Evidence  derived  from  Fluviatile  Strata 
or  Remnants  of  an  old  River-bed  in  Goat-Island  and  else- 
where.— Difficulty  of  computing  the  Rate  of  tlie  Retrograde 
Movement — Varying  Hardness  and  Thickness  of  the  Rocks 
undermined.— Future  Recession. — Age  of  the  Drift  and  Lime- 
stone Escarpments. — Successive  changes  which  preceded 
and  accompanied  the  origin  of  the  Falls.— Reflections  on  the 
Lapse  of  past  Time 22 

CHAPTER  HL 

Tour  from  the  Niagara  to  the  Northern  Frontier  of  Pennsyl- 
vania.— Ancient  Gypsiferous  Formation  of  New  York. — 
Fossil  Mastodon  at  Genesco. — Scenery. — Sudden  Growth  of 
New  Towns. — Coal  of  P>lossborjr,  and  resemblance  to  British 


Nl 


III 


I 


PAoa 


44 


TT  coyTr.yjn. 

Conl-Measurcs  — Sti:^mnri;».— (Inmming  Birds. — Nomencla- 
ture of  I'liccs.— Hdilcrbir^  MountJiins  and  Fossils. — Ke- 
fruclory  TtMaiits.— Trivi'llinu'  in  the  States. — F'ulifeness 
of  Women. — C'iin;il  Ho.it.— Domestic  Service. — Progress  of 
Civilis.Uion.— I'iuladuipliiu. — I-'ire-en^ines 

CHAPTER  IV. 

F.xcnrsion  to  New  Jersey. — Crctacenns  Rocks  compared  to 
Kiiroi)ean. — General  Analo)j;y  of  Fossils,  and  Distinctness  of 
Species.— Tour  to  the  Anthracite  Reijion  of  the  Alleghanics 
in  Pennsylvania. — Lon^  pitrallcl  Rid^i'S  and  Valleys  of  these 
Monntiins. — Putlsville — .Absence  of  Smoke. — Fossil  Plants 
s.ime  iis  in  IJituminous  C'oul. — Sti;.;mari.c. — Great  Thickn«'S3 
of  Stritu  — Origin  of  Anthracite. — V;ist  Area  of  the  Appala- 
chian Coal-l'ield. — Progressive  Debituminization  of  coal 
from  West  to  East. — General  Remarks  on  the  dilfercnt 
Groups  of  Rocks  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Mississippi. — 
Law  of  Strncti'rc  of  tlic  Appalachian  chain  discovered  by 
the  Professor.^  Ro;^ers. — Increased  Folding  and  Dislocation 
of  Strata  on  the  Soutli-eastern  Hank  of  the  Appalachians. — 
Theory  of  tiie  Origin  of  this  Mountain  chain 6:^ 

CHAPTER  V. 

Wooded  Ridges  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains. — German  Patois 
in  Pennsylvania. — Lehigh  Summit  Mine. — Effects  of  Ice 
during  u  Flood  in  the  Delaware. — Election  of  a  Governor 
at  Trenton  and  at  Philadelphia. — Journey  to  Boston. — 
Autumnal  Tints  of  the  Foliage. — Boston  the  Seat  of  Com- 
merce, of  Government,  and  of  a  University. — Lectures  at  the 
Lowell  Institute.— Influence  of  Oral  Instruction  in  Litera- 
ture and  Science. — Fees  of  Public  Lecturers. — Education 
Funds  sunk  in  costly  Buildings. — Advantages  of  anti-build- 
ing clauses  — Blind  Asylum. — Lowell  Factory. — National 
Schools.— Equality  of  Sects. — Society  in  Boston 81 

CHAPTER  VL 

Fall  of  Snow  and  Sleigh-driving  at  Boston. — Journey  to  New 
Haven. — Ichthyolites  of  Durham,  Connecticut.— Age  of 
Red  Sandstone. — Income  of  Farmers. — Baltimore. — Wash- 
ington.— National  Museum. — Natural  Impediments  to  the 
Growth  of  Washington.— Why  chosen  for  the  Capital.-- 
Richmond,  Virginia. — Efi'ects  of  Slave  Labour. — Low  Region 


Re 


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44 


CONTKNTi. 

on  thfi  Atlantic  Bonier,  occupied  by  Tertiary  .Str;ita  — In 
fiisorial  Hcd  at  Rioltniotid. — Miocene  Sliell:i  and  (dralii  in 
the  I  lifs  of  the  Janus  Uivt-r  com;  ared  with  i'os.s  Id  <  f  the 
Kuro|)oan  Crj^  and  i'.du;is — Analogy  ol  I'diniH  and  DiI!<t- 
ence  of  S[u'Cics.  —  rrupoition  ol'  Species  — CoinnicnceniL-nt 
ol'  the  preiiunl  Geographical  Didtnhution  ul  Mcliusica 


V 


99 


62 


I 


CHAPTHK  VII. 

Pine  Barrens  of  Vin,'inia  and  North  Carolina. — Railway  Train 
stopped  by  Snow  and  Ice. — The  ^r»•at  Dismal  Swatnp  — 
Soil  foruied  entirely  of  Ve„'etable  Matter— Rises  lii;<her  than 
the  conti^noiis  firm  Land.— Buried  Timber —Lake  in  tlie 
Middle  — The  Origin  of  Cod  illustrated  by  the  Creat  Dis- 
mal.— Objections  to  the  Theory  of  an  ancient  Atmosphere 
highly  char^jed  with  Carbonic  Acid 113 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Tour  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina.— Facilities  of  Locomo- 
tion— Aufiusta.  —  Voyaj>;e  down  the  Savannah  River. — Shell 
Blufl'. — Slave  Labour. — Fever  and  Ague. — Millhavcn. — Pine 
F'orests  of  Georgia. — Alligators  and  Land  Tortoises  — 'Warmth 
of  Climate  in  January. — Tertiary  Strata  on  the  Savannah. — 
Fossil  Remains  of  Mastodon  and  Mylodon  near  Savannah. — 
Passports  required  of  Slaves. — Cheerfulness  of  the  Negroes.     I2i2 


lal 


few 
(of 
Ih- 


81 


CHAPTER   IX. 

Return  to  Charleston. — Fossil  Human  Skeleton. — Geographical 
Distribution  of  Quadrupeds  in  North  America. — .Severe 
Frost  in  183.')  in  South  Carolina.— White  Limestone  of  the 
Cooper  River  and  Santee  Canal. — Referrid  to  the  Eocene 
Period,  not  intermediate  between  Tertiary  and  Chalk. — 
Lime-sinks. — Species  of  Shells  common  to  Eocene  Strata  in 
America  and  Europe. — Causes  of  the  increased  Insalubrity 
of  the  Low  Region  of  South  Carolina. — Condition  of  the 
Slave  Population. — Cheerfulness  of  the  Negroes,  their 
'Vanity. — State  of  Animal  Existence  — Invalidity  of  Mar- 
riages.— The  coloured  Population  multiply  faster  than  the 
Whites. — Eflect  of  the  Interference  of  Abolitionists. — Law 
apainst  Education. — Gradual  Emancipation  equally  desirable 
for  the  W^hites  and  the  Coloured  Race 136 


Ion 


VI 


CONTEXTS. 


PAM 


CHAPTER  X. 

Wilmington,  North  Carolina. — Mount  Vernon. — Return  to 
Pliiladtlphia.— Reception  of  Mr.  Dickens. — Museum  and 
Fossil  Human  Bones. — Penitentiary.— Churches.— Relii^ious 
Excitement. — Coloured  People  of  Fortune. — Obstacles  to 
tlicir  obtaining  Political  and  Social  Equality.— No  natural 
Antipathy  between  the  Races. — Negro  Reservations 156 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Philadelphia. — Financial  Crisis.— Payment  of  State  Dividends 
suspended. — General  Distress  and  Private  Losses  of  th*" 
Americans. — Debt  of  Pennsylvania. — Public  Works. — Direct 
Taxes. — Deficient  Revenue. — Bad  Faith  and  Confiscations. — 
Irresponsible  Executive. — Loan  Refused  by  European  Capi- 
talists in  18-42. — Good  Faith  of  Congress  during  the  War  in 
1S12-14  — Effects  of  Universal  Suflirage.- Fraudulent  Vot- 
ing.— Aliens. — Solvency  and  Good  Faith  of  the  Majority  of 
the  States — Confidence  of  American  Capitalists. — Reform 
of  the  Electoral  Body,— General  Prcgxess  of  Society,  and 
Prospects  of  the  Republic 171 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Now  York  City. — Geology.— Distribution  of  Erratic  Rocks  in 
Long  Island. — Residence  in  New  York. — Effects  on  ociety 
of  increased  Intercourse  of  distant  States. — Separatioi  of  the 
Capital  and  Metropolis. — Climate. — Geology  of  the  "i  ^onic 
Momitains. — Stratum  of  Plumbago  and  Anthracite  i  the 
Mica  Schist  of  Worcester — Theory  of  its  Origin. — Let    jres 


for  the  Working  Classes.— Fossil  Foot-Prints  of  Bi  a  in 
Red  Sandstone. — Mount  Holyoke. —Visit  to  the  Isl;  d  of 
Martha's  Vineyard. — Fossil  Walrus.— Indias .... 


189 


CHAPTER  XIIL 

Meeting  of  Association  of  American  Geologists  at  Boston. — 
Popular  Libraries  in  New  England.— Large  Sale  of  Literary 
Works  in  the  United  States. — American  Universities. — 
Harvard  College,  near  Boston. — English  Universities. — Pecu- 
liarities of  their  System. — Historical  Sketch  of  the  Causes 
of  the  Peculiarities  not  of  Medieval  Origin. — Collegiate 
Corporations. — Their  altered  Relations  to  the  English  Uni- 
versities after  the  Reformation. — Constitution  given  to 
Oxlbrd  by  Leicester  and  Laud.— System  of  Public  Teaching, 


COWTENTS. 


rkmm 


156 


PAoa 


how  superseded  by  the  Collegiate.— Effects  of  the  Change.— 
Oxford  Examination  Statute  of  ISOO.—lts  subsequent  Modi- 
firation  and  Results.— Rise  of  Private  Tutors  at  Oxford  and 
Canibriilge.—Consequences  of  this  Innovation. — Struggle  at 
Oxford  in  ISJ'J  to  restore  the  Trofessional  System.— Causes 
of  its  Rejection.— Tractarianism.— Supremacy  of  Ecclesias- 
tics.— Youthful  Examiners. — Cambridge,  advocacy  of  the 
System  followed  there.— Influence  of  the  English  Academi- 
cal Plan  on  the  Cultivation  of  the  Physical  Sciences,  and 
all  Branches  of  Progressive  Knowledge. — Remedies  and 
Reforms 208 


171 


169 


r 


li! 


I! 


I  I 


I 


JOURNAL 


'I 


OF   A 


TOUR    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 


IN  1841—2. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Voyage. — Hirhonr  of  ITiIifax. — Excursions  near  Boston. — Differ- 
ence of  Pl.rniis  from  European  Species,  and  Correspondence  of 
Marine  Shells. — Rarmhlance  of  Drift,  Erratics,  and  furrowed 
Rocks,  to  those  of  Sweden. — Sprinisjield. — New  Haven. — Scenery 
of  the  Hudson. — Alhainj. — Geological  Surveys. — Mohawk  Valley. — 
Ancient  or  Silurian  Formations. — Prosperity  and  rapid  Progress 
of  the  People. — Lake  Ontario. —  Tortoises. — Fossil  Remains  of 
Mjdtadim. 

Jiilij  20,  1841. — Sailed  from  Liverpool  for  Boston, 
U.  S.,  ill  the  steam-ship  Acadia,  which  held  her  com'se 
as  straight  as  an  arrow  from  Cape  Clear  in  Ireland  to 
Halifax  in  Nova  Scotia,  makino-  between  220  and  280 
miles  per  day. 

After  the  monotony  of  a  week  spent  on  the  open 
sea,  we  were  amused  when  we  came  near  the  great 
banks  which  extend  from  the  southern  point  of  New- 
foundland, by  the  rapid  passage  of  the  steamer  through 
alternate  belts  of  stationary  fog  and  clear  spaces 
warmed  and  lighted  up  with  bright  sunshine.  Look 
iug  at  the  dense  fog  from   the  interinediate  sumiy 


J 


!'f 


'  !i 


ill; 


ii; 


iji! 


HARBOrU    OF    HALIFAX. 


Chap.  i. 


regions,  we  could  hardly  be  persuaded  that  we  were 
not  beholding  land,  so  distinct  and  well-defined  was  its 
outline,  and  such  the  varieties  of  lii»"ht  and  shade,  that 
some  of  our  Canadian  fellow-pussenufers  compared  it  to 
the  patches  of  cleared  and  uncleared  comihy  on  the 
north  shore  of  the  »St.  Lawrence.  TIk^sc  iop^n  are 
caused  by  the  meeting,  over  the  gi<>at  l>anks,  of  the 
warm  watered  of  (ho  ;julf  stream  ilowinii:  iVom  the  south, 
and  colder  currents,  often  cliari>''d  with  iloatinij;'  ice, 
froni  the  nortii,  by  which  very  oj)posite  slates  in  the; 
relative  lejnperature  of  the  sea  and  atmoftphcie  are  pro- 
duced in  spaces  closely  contiguous,  in  places  v.heie 
the  sea  is  warmer  than  the  air,  fogs  are  generjleil. 

When  the  eye  has  been  accustomed  for  many  (Ia3's 
to  the  deep  blue  of  the  central  Atlantic,  the  greener 
tint  of  the  sea  over  the  banks  is  lefreshing.  We  were 
within  150  miles  of  the  southern  point  of  Newfonnfl- 
land  when  we  crossed  thesu'  b'lnks,  ov(M'  whicli  the 
shallowest  water  is  said  to  be  aljout  thirty-live  fathoins 
deep.  The  bottom  consists  of  lino  t^mv],  whicii  mu-t 
be  often  ploughed  up  by  icebergs,  I'or  so\  eral  of  tluMu 
were  seen  aground  liere  1>y  scnrie  of  op.r  pass.MiQiT-  on 
the  31st  of  July  last.  The  captain  tells  us  (!t;!t  the 
worst  months 'for  crossing  the  Atlantic  to  and  from 
Halifax  are  February  and  3Iarch,  and  the  m  )4  aarcc 
able  ones,  July,  August,  and  September.  The  nearer 
we  approached  the  American  coast,  the  more  ijeautiful 
and  brilUant  were  the  sunsets.  We  sometimes  com- 
pared the  changing  hues  of  the  clouds  and  sky  to  the 
blue  and  red  colours  in  a  pigeon's  neck. 

Juf?/  31. — On  the  eleventh  day  of  our  voyage  we 
Bailed  directly  into  tiie  harbom-  of  Halifax,  which  by  its 
low  hills  of  granite  and  slate,  covered  with  birch  and 


Chap.  i. 


ARRIVAL    AT    HOSTOX. 


spi 


lice  fir,  roinindefl  mo  inoro  of  a  Xorvpoi;,,)   f-pnl. 


the 

■r-  on 

tl)0 

iVoni 

2'VCC 

lenrer 
itil'ul 
coni- 

0  the 

•Q  we 

|by  its 

and 


such  as  timt  of  ( "liristiaiu;i.  than  r.iiy  (^thcr  jjlarc  I  |;;i(l 
seen.  I  laiu'.cd  licro  lor  six  liouis,  wiili  my  v.  ili>.  (hi- 
ring whicli  wc  liad  tinio  to  (lriv(;  ni)')iii  ili;'  town,  and 
see  'he  imistMiin,  wliero  I  was  sliowii  a  larsxc  f)-sii  ficc 
filled  with  saiiilstoiio,  recently  sent  frc.in  slrala  (M;nr;.in- 
ing"  coal  in  the  interior.  1  resolved  t-o  examin;'  tl'..  -^e 
bcf)re  rcturnin!!^  to  EiiG^land,  as  tliey  ;;p})e:in':!,  I  y  t!.e 
description  i>'iven  us,  to  aflbrd  the  fnu^st  example-  V(  t 
known  in  the  world  of  petrified  trees  occmrliig'  in  ilieir 
natural  or  erect  position. 

Letters,  which  we  had  written  on  the  voyao-e,  l,ein':i' 
now  committed  to  the  post-ollice  at  llalifix.  Wv-re  luicn 
up  next  day  l»y  iIk?  (/aledonia  slo:im-.-iiip  {'■.)[■  Mn'rliind, 
and  in  less  than  a  mnntli  (Void  the  tiiii'-orour  (.iiitiii!'!; 
London,  our  friends  in  remot.'  pints  <.!'  (l:rv\  I'lii.iiii 
(in  Scotland  and  in  I)evon>'hire)  were  reading'  ;;n 
account  of  the"  harbour  of  Halifax,  of  tlie  >.;i;nnc 
Indians  willi  their  lv;(|uim:iux  fvU tires,  paddiinii^  abottt 
in  canoes  of  biitdi  bark,  and  other  n  )ve!ties  s.en  on  the 
shores  of  the  New  ^Vorld.  It  reipiired  ib.e  ai  1  of  tb.e 
recently  established  radroads  at  honi;',  as  well  as  the 
Atlantic  steam-packets,  to  render  such  rapid  correspond- 
ence po.:;sible. 

Atfgitst  2. — A  run  of  about  thirty  hours  carried  us 
to  Boston,  which  we  reached  in  twelve  and  a  Isalf  days 
after  loavin;!  Liiverpool.  'I'hc  heat  here  is  int(>nse,  the 
harbour  and  cit}  beautiful,  the  air  clear  and  entirely 
free  from  s-nioke,  so  that  the  shippiiii^  may  be  seen  far 
oir,  at  the  ent\  of  many  of  the  streets.  'I  he  Tie  mom 
Hotel  merits  its  reputation  as  one  of  the  best  in  the 
v/orld.  Recollecting  the  contrast  of  every  thing  !•  rench 
whf*n  I  first  cr05«(?d  the  strait-^;  of  Dover.  I  am  aufx^n- 


'Jf 


i  :! 


liil 


il 


4 


KXCUJISIONS    Nr::AR    BOSTON. 


Chap  i. 


ished,  atUM-  haviiiij^  traversed  the  wide  ocean,  at  the  re- 
f;.iin!)lance  of  every  lliiiin^  I  see  and  liear  V)  things 
lainiliar  at  lioine.  Ft  has  so  often  lia|i|)e!ie(l  to  ine  in 
onr  own  i-hmd,  without  travcliinu"  into  tiiose  parts  of 
Wales,  Scotland,  or  Ireland,  where  they  talk  a  perfectly 
distinct  lan'^uagT',  to  encounter  provincial  dialects  which 
it  is  dilficult  to  conij)reiiend,  that  I  wonder  at  findin<r 
the  people  here  so  very  English.  If  the  metropolis  of 
New  England  he  a  type  of  a  large  part  of  the  United 
States,  the  industry  of  8am  Slick,  and  other  writers,  in 
collecting  together  so  many  diverting  Americanisms 
and  so  nnich  original  slang,  is  truly  great,  or  their 
inventive  powers  still  greater. 

I  made  excursions  to  the  neighljoinhood  of  Boston, 
through  Roxhury,  Cambridge,  and  other  places,  with  a 
good  botani-t.  to  whom  i  had  brought  letters  of  intro- 
duction. Aifliough  this  is  not  the  best  season  for  wild 
llowcrs,  tlie  entire  distinctness  of  the  trees,  shrubs,  and 
plants,  from  those  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
ailord-^  a  constant  cliitrin  to  the  i^uopean  traveller. 
We  admired  fix^  drooping  Aineiicnn  elm,  a  picturesque 
tree  ;  and  saw  sev^Mal  kin-.i-  of  siiin.u  !i,  oaks  with 
deeply  iiidentiMi  leaves,  dwarf  birciios,  and  several  wild 
roses.  Large  comiiions  vrithout  heaths  reminded  me 
oi"  the  siimular  fact  that  no  species  of  heath  is  indige- 


nous on 


the  Am.Mican  continent.     Vve  missed  also  tl 


16 


small  "crimson-iipj)cd"  daisy  on  the  green  lawns,  and 
were  told  tliat  they  have  !',eon  often  cultivated  with 
care,  but  are  i'v.mtl  to  wither  when  exposed  to  the  dry 


air  an 


d  b 


ri'iiU 


I  of  this  climate 


\V 


len  weeds  so 


connn)  :  with   i; 


an;):;t  be  i"e 


a-;i  1 


lere,  we  cease  to 


wondei  at  tiic  disdanlarity  of  the  native  llora  of  the 
New  World      Ve  v/henever  the  aboriginal  forests  are 


ClIAP.  I. 


MAUIXE    STIF.LT- 


6 


(Is  so 

ISO   to 

)f  the 

ts  are 

I 


cleiied,  wo.  soo  orclvinl'!.  crnrdon-',  and  nrnl)!o  Ininl> 
filicil   \v'.f!i   llic  <.n!i '   IVu;i    tr  c-;.  '.I;!'  snji 


>     ir;'' 1  I ! 


Ill     .'I! 


Vl'.'''i't.l!»lf 


s    1)1     iillli)i)(' 


) 


o'i:;tirM    V 


Pirc 


irovHK"  1  lii;it  file 


;iiif 


:i  ■:-!   ii;c 


1)   llKlll 


MTv! 


(•:i!) 


.1 


i);i' 


/H>-. 


!!))lSCil.   C!     ,,('l';)l)l!ll/  (■  )sm')' 


.-■V 


('i;t  Uy  i-;ii!\vay  I')  diMivcr  Icd.'i-.'  an. I  pay 


sni 


n;'   visits  at    Nalianf.  situalc  !  (in  a  proni.Mi*.  )ry   of 


tl 


H*   c;) 


ist.   ahout   ten   miles   N.!v   of  Hoston.   wlicro 


I 


examiacd  tin-  roi^Ics  of  hornltlcnde  and  ^•y(Mli!:^  trav- 
ersed 1)V  veins  of  greensione  and  basa'f  wlii;  li  o\\rn 
intersect  eacdi  other.  'IMie  surface  of  tlu;  rocks  wher- 
ever tlie  incinnl-ent  unravel  or  drift  ha.--  hec  n  recently 
removed,  is  polished,  furrowed,  and  striated,  as  in  (he 
north  of  Europe,  especially  in  Sweden,  or  in  Switzer- 
land, near  the  great  jjclaciers. 

On  the  beacli  or  bar  of  sand  and  shin;:i;le,  which 
unites  the  peninsula  with  the  main  land,  I  ctillected 
many  recent  shells,  and  was  inunediately  struck  with 
the  ao-reement  of  several  of  the  most  abundant  species 
with  our  ordinary  British  littoral  shells.  Among  (hem 
were  Purjnirn  htpi/hrs',  Turbo  {Li'/'/rhiK)  rifd/y, 
Al///ilifs  cilttl/s,  ]\/o(/i()/(i  jKipfKina.  jMijd  artiiftr'ia, 
besides  others  which  were  evidently  geographical  rep- 
resentatives of  our  coimnon  s'pei'ies  ;  su(di  i\<  Nossti 
trividdla,  allied  to  our  ;Y.  rf/iri/hitff,  Tnrho  p'tlVnitus 
Say,  allied  to,  if  not  the  same  as,  otn'  connnon  Tinho 
vt'iifoiflrs.  A:c.  I  afterwards  added  lari:.e!y  to  the  list 
of  corresponding  species  and  forms,  and  Dr.  Gould  of 
iioston  showed  nic  his  collection  of  the  marine  shells 
of  Massachusetts  and  the  adjoining  ocean,  and  gave 
me  a  list  of  70  out  of  197  species  wdiich  he  regarded  as 
identical  with  shells  from  Europe.  After  comparing 
these  on  ni}'^  return,  with  the  aid  of  several  able  con- 


r 


I 


UKSEMnLANTK    OF    DRIFT    ROCKS 


HAI*.    1 


111- 


i: 


rljdlofrists.  1  ain  ('onvlncod  that  the  rricatcr  part  of  these 
idoiitillcationy  are  oorroct ;  anil,  hi  tlio  place  of  some 
C()iisi(i('i('il  us  douhlfiil,  ihcre  arc  oliuMs  not  (Mitimera- 
t('(l  in  l)r.  (loiiid'ri  cataio<'ue,  which  nuiy  ho  Hulistituted, 
ao  as  to  ctftahhrih  a  rcsjult  for  which  few  zoologists  wero 
prepared,  viz.  that  one  third,  or  ahoiit  35  |)er  cent,  of 
tile  niarine  sliclls  of  this  part  of  America  are  the  same 


ll 


IS  I  nose  on  llie 


th 


oppoi 


site  side  of  the  Atlantic 


a  lar 


S« 


part  of  llie  remainder  consisting  of  geographical  rej)re- 
scntatives,  and  a  fraction  only  of  tiie  whol(;  allording 
characteristic  or  peculiar  forms.  I  shall  have  many 
opportunities  of  pointing  out  the  geological  hearing  of 
this  curious,  and  to  me  very  unexpected,  fact. 

Several  excavations  made  for  railwaj^s  in  the  neigh- 
hourhood  of  Boston,  through  mounds  of  stratilied  and 
unstratilied  gravel  and  sand,  and  also  through  rock, 
cnahled  me  to  recognise  the  exact  resemblance  of  this 
part  of  New  England  to  the  less  elevated  regions  of 
Norway  and  Sweden,  where  granitic  rocks  are  strewed 
over  irregularly  with  sand  and  blocks  of  stone,  forming 
a  gently  undulating  country  with  numerous  ponds  and 
fmall  lakes.  Indeed,  had  I  not  been  coiistantly  re- 
nnnded  that  I  was  in  America,  by  the  tlistinclness  of 
the  plants,  and  the  birds  flying  about  in  the  woods,  the 
geological  phenomena  would  have  led  me  to  suppose 
myself  in  Scotland,  or  some  other  part  of  Northern 
Furope.  "^riiese  heaps  of  sand  and  pebbles  are  en- 
tin'ly  devoid  of  shells  or  organic  remains,  and  occasion- 
ally huge  rounded  blocks,  brouglit  from  a  great  distance, 
re.-t  upon  them,  or  are  buried  in  them.  The  licaps  are 
mainly  composed,  however,  of  the  materials  of  neigh- 
bouring rocks.  At  some  points  the  superficial  gravel 
has  been  pierced  to  the  depth  of  100,  and  even  more 


i 


ClIAP. 


TO    TflOHK    Ol'    sSWKIjEN. 


y  le- 

1 

ss  of 

■"(. 
-ft 

S  the 

^- 

ij)ose 

i 

tliern 

'^i^ 

3  en- 

,j 

isioii- 

auce, 

i. 

s  are 

■1 

than  2(lO,  feet,  witliout  iW.  solid  r(x:k  \mn'X  reachi'd; 
Ijiit.  more  iDinm  n'y  the  lr;r>.s.'  detrilus  U  of  iiioderalc 
t!iic-kii(!s  ■;  an  I,  wJun  rinur.cd,  a  polished  PurOu'c  of 
granit,!\  i^ncis.-.  or  mi'-j  schi.-t.  is  c>:poHpd,  exliiliitiii^-  a 
siiKvjth  .-iirfu";',  v.illi  occasional  scratchc-^  or  slraiifrht 
parallel  furrows.  Ilor<^  and  there,  rouiidetl  and  llat- 
tcncd  doiutv-  of  sinootlied  rock,  similar  in  shaix;  to  the 
"  rochcs  inouionnces''  wiiich  hordcr  the  Alj»ine  glaciers, 
are  obscrvahle.  The  day  after  I  landed,  an  excava- 
tion  recently  made  for  the  monument  now  erecting"  on 
Bunker's  Hill,  enabled  me  to  recognise  the  likeness  of 
this  drift  to  that  of  Scandinavia,  and  every  day  since 
I  have  seen  fresh  proofs  of  the  complete  correspondence 
of  these  remote  districts.  Professor  Hitchcock  has 
shown  that  in  New  England  the  parallel  grooves  or 
furrows  have  a  general  direction  nearly  north  and 
south,  but  usually  ten  or  fifteen  degrees  to  the  west  of 
nortli.  I  have  already  seen,  at  Nahant  and  elsewhere, 
some  marked  deviations  frwn  tl;i«  rule,  which,  however, 
is  correct  in  the  main,  imd  these  markinqs  have  been 
found  to  prevail  at  all  hei<jfhls  in  ]N'ew  England,  even 
in  mouataiiis  jnore  than  'iUOO  feel  high. 

I  have  alrei'uy  observed  several  rouih'K-d  boulders 
with  one  lint  side  senxtehecl  and  furrowed,  as  if  it  had 
been  held  iHiuly  in  one  j^osilion  when  iro/eM  into  ice, 
and  rubbed  again.-t  a  hard  rocky  1  jiioiu. 

There  is  here,  as  in  Sv/eden.  so  great  an  extent  of 
low  country  remote  from  any  hi'^ii  moun'ai'.is,  that  we 
cannot  altributc  the  olU'cts  above  described  to  trin;  gla- 
ciers descending  in  the  open  air  from  the  higher  regions 
to  the  plains.  If  we  adopt  the  glacial  theory,  we  must 
sup{)oso  the  country  to  liave  been  submerged,  and  tliat 
the  northern  drift  was  brought  here  by  large  1)odics  of 


i. 


.■"* 


DKPARTCRr:  FOR  m;\v  havkn. 


Cif^p. 


tit' 

I:!ft 


m 


[l\ 


m 


I  " 


floating  ice,  whiclij  l>y  n  peatedly  runnijig  af^round  on 
tho  'ottoni  of  tlie  sea  for  tlioiisanils  of  3i;ars,  and  f(>;- 
cint?  alont^  the  sand  iindt?r  their  eiiornioiirf  \vei<:iit,  pol- 
ished a)Kl  fiHTowed  the  rofky  boltoni,ai)d  on  (lie  melt- 
ing of  the  ice,  let  fall  their  bnriien  of  stojies  or  erratic 
Ijlocks,  tOi»^ether  with  mnd  and  pebbles. 

When  we  recollect  that  Boston  is  situated  in  the  lat- 
itude of  Konie,  or  in  tl)at  of  tlie  nortli  of  Spain,  and 
that  the  northern  drift  and  erratic  blocks  in  Eiu'ope  are 
first  met  with  about  the  50th  degree  of  latitude,  !U)d 
then  increase  as  wc  travel  towards  the  j)ole;  there 
seems  ground  for  presuming,  that  the  greater  cold 
wliich  now  marks  the  climate  of  North  America  had 
begun  to  prevail  long  before  the  ])resent  distribution  of 
land  and  sea  in  the  northern  hemi;^j)here,  and  before 
the  present  climates  were  estabUshed.  Perhaps,  even 
in  the  glacial  period  of  geology,  the  lines  of  etjual  win- 
ter's cold,  when  drawn  from  Europe  to  North  America, 
made  a  curve  of  about  lU*"'  to  the  southward,  as  hi  our 
own  times. 

Aug.  9. — After  a  week  spent  very  agreeably  at  Bos- 
ton, we  started  for  New  Haven  in  Connecticut,  going' 
the  first  hundred  miles  on  an  excellent  railw.iy  in 
about  five  hours,  for  three  dollars  viich.  Tho  s}>c-ed 
of  the  railways  in  this  State,  the  most  popuk)Us  in 
the  Union,  is  greater  than  elsewhere,  and  I  am  told 
that  they  are  made  with  American  capital,  and  f;>r 
the  most  part  pay  good  interest.  There  are  no  tumirls, 
and  so  few  embankments  that  they  aflbrd  tlie  traveller 
a  good  view  of  the  country.  The  number  of  small 
lakes  and  ponds,  such  as  are  seen  in  tlie  country  l-e- 
tv^'-een  XiUnd  and  Stockholm,  in  Sweden,  aflords  a 
pleasing  variety  to  the  scenery,  and  they  are  as  useful 


\ 


Chap.  i. 


SPRixr.FinLD. 


9 


us  in 
told 

IIH'I:^. 

\eller 

SlU'lll 

•y  ha- 
\\h  a 


■I 


as  they  aro  ortianiontal.  'i  lie  water  is  luauiifullv 
clear,  antl  when  IVo./en  to  the  (icjth  cl"  m my  I'tM  i  in 
winter,  sup-plies  thtx-e  large  cuhical  masses  nl  ice.  whieh 
are  sawe»l  and  transported  to  t'le  principal  cities 
throuL^hout  the  I'niun,  and  even  ship[)ed  to  Calcutta, 
crossing  the  eipiator  twice  in  their  outward  voyau'e.  It 
lias  heen  truly  said,  ihat  this  part  of  New  Ilnglnnd 
ow(.'s  its  wealth  to  its  industry,  the  soil  heing  sterile,  the 
timber  small,  and  there  being  no  staj)Ie  comni  jJitiv  s  ol" 
native  growth,  except  ice  and  granite. 

In  the  inland  country  between  Uoston  and  Sjiriig- 
(iel.l,  we  saw  some  sand-hills  like  the  dunes  <('  id  wn 
sand  near  the  coast,  ndiijh  were  probably  form-  d  on 
tlie  sca-si'le  befjie  the  country  was  elevated  to  its  ]}r;'s- 
ent  heiglit.  We  passed  many  fields  of  niai/.e,  ov  In- 
dian corn,  beiore  ariiving  ;;t  Springileld,  whicli  i^  a 
beautiful  village,  with  Cnc  avenues  of  the  American 
ehn  on  each  side  of  the  wide  streets.  From  .'"«pring- 
lield  we  descended  the  river  Connecticut  in  a  >leam- 
boat.  Its  banks  were  covered  with  an  (elegant  specie.s 
of  golden  rod  {iSo/idagn),  with  its  showy  bright  yellow 
(lowers.  1  have  been  hitheit)  di-apjwiritcd  in  seeing 
no  large  timber,  and  I  am  told  that  it  was  cut  down 
originally  in  "Sew  England  without  mercy,  because  It 
served  as  an  ambush  for  the  Indians,  since  which  time 
it  has  never  recovered,  being  consumed  largely  for  fuel. 
The  Americans  of  these  Eastern  States  who  vL-it  Eu- 
rope iiave,  strange  to  say,  derived  their  ideas  of  noljle 
trees  more  from  those  of  our  principal  English  parks, 
than  from  the  native  forests  of  the  New  World. 

I  visited  Rocky  Hill,  near  Hartford  in  Connecticut, 
where  the  contact  is  seen  of  a  large  mass  of  columnar 
trap  with  red  sandstone.     In  a  large  quarry,  the  dis- 


(   '-I 


10 


NEW    lIAVnN. 


Chap,  i 


1 1  ■ 


IWi 


n 


tinct  joints  wliicli  divide  the  sandstone  contrast  finely 
willi  tlie  divisional  planes  wliicli  separate  the  basalt  into 
pillars.  The  eviilence  of  alteration  by  heat  at  the 
point  of  contact  is  very  marked,  and  has  been  well  de- 
scribed by  Dr.  Sillinian  in  a  paper  on  the  rocks  of  this 
plac(!. 

Tiio  city  of  New  Haven,  with  a  population  of 
1  1,0()()  sDuls,  possesses,  like  Sprinr^fidd,  fine  avenues  of 
Uvi's  in  its  streets,  which  mingle  agreeably  with  the 
buiLlings  of  the  university,  and  the  numerous  churches, 
of  wliich  we  counted  near  twenty  steeples.  When 
attending  service,  according  to  the  Presbyterian  form, 
in  tile  ('ol!:*gc  chapel  on  Sunday,  1  could  scarcely 
believe  I  was  not  in  Scotland. 

In  an  expedilion  to  the  north  of  the  town,  accom- 
panied by  Professor  Silliman,  his  son,  and  Mr.  Percival, 
a  geologisr  to  whom  the  execiuion  of  the  State  Survey 
of  Connecticut  was  entrusted,  I  examined  the  red  sand- 
stone {Nan  lied)  and  intrusive  volcanic  rocks  (basalt 
and  greenstone)  of  this  neighbourhood.  Dykes  of 
various  sizes  intersect  the  stratified  rocks,  and  occasion- 
ally How  in  great  tabular  masses  nearly  parallel  to  the 
strata,  so  as  to  have  the  picturcs(|ue  ellect  of  cappings 
of  columnar  basalt,  although  Mr.  Percival  has  shown 
that  they  are  in  reality  intrusive,  and  alter  the  strata 
in  contact  both  above  and  below.  The  Ljast  and 
West  Kocks  near  New  Haven,  crowned  with  tnip.  bear 
a  strong  resemblance  in  their  outline  and  general  as- 
pect  to  Salisbury  Crags,  and  other  hills  of  the  same 
structure  near  Edinburgh. 

W^e  saw  in  Hampden  parisli,  lat.  'll*^  10',  on  the 
summit  of  a  high  hill  of  sandstone,  a  huge  erratic 
block  of  greenstone,  100  feel  in  circuiiiference,  and  pro 


CiiAr-  I- 


PAbciAOl':    TO    NKW     YOKK. 


a 


i 
I 


-I 


'^ 


jccliiig  II  led  jibovtr  ground.  Other  larg«  trani*- 
porl«'(l  rraj.MiifiilH  Inivt;  betMi  met  willi  more  than  1000 
loet  above  tlic  l<'velof  th*.'  t'CU,  aiiiltsvcry  wliere  Htraight 
parallel  furrous  ajijx  a r  un  the  i^iiioolh  siirlace  ol  th(< 
rocks,  where  \\w  supiiiuiai  uravol  and  sand  are  re 
moved. 

In  a  trardea  .if  New  Haven  (Aujiust  13.)  I  kinv,  (bi- 
the  lirst  time,  a  hu//"iiinn-  bird  on  thf  wing',  it  was 
lluttering  round  the  llovvers  oi"  a  (jlladiolus.  In  the 
suburbs  we  gathered  a  splendid  wild  flower,  the  scarlet 
Lobelia,  and  a  large  sweet-scented  water-lti\ .  The 
only  singing  bird  which  we  heard  was  a  thrush  with  a 
red  breast,  which  ihey  call  here  the  robin.  The  grass- 
hoppers were  as  numerous  and  as  noi«y  as  in  Itah . 
M  \vc  returned  in  the  evening  over  some  low  marsh} 
groiuul,  we  saw  several  lire-ilies,  showing  an  occasional 
bright  spark.  They  are  small  beetles  resemblijig  ou« 
male  glow-worms  {Lampi/ris  hmn..  Pyrolampis  scin- 
I  ilia  us  Say). 

Aug-.  13. — A  large  steamer  canitil  us  I  rum  New 
1  Ia\'en  to  New  York,  a  distance  of  about  nin€:ty  mileB, 
in  less  tlian  six  hours.  We  had  Long  Islantlon  the  one 
side,  and  the  main  land  on  the  othfr.  the  scenery  at 
first  tiurie  froui  thi'  width  of  (ho  channel,  but  very 
lively  and  striking  when  this  became  more  contracted, 
and  at  length  we  seemed  to  sail  into  the  very  suburbs 
of  the  great  city  itself,  passing  between  green  islands, 
some  of  them  covered  with  buildings  and  villas.  We 
had  the  same  bright  sunshine  which  wc^  have  enjoyed 
ever  since  we  landed,  and  an  atmosphere  unsullied 
by  the  chimnies  of  countless  steam-boats,  factories,  and 
houses,  of  a  population  of  mor«*  than  300,000  soul:*, 


if 


m 


^i 


\'J 


w 


"f|!it 


M:  ;'■■ 


'  !|i 


12 


SCENERY    DF    THE    HUDSON. 


Chap,  i 


thanks  to  the  remoteness  of  all  fuel  save  antliracile  and 
wood. 

Next  day,  1  went  with  Mr.  Kedfield,  well  known  by 
his  meteorological  writings,  across  the  Paesaic  river  to 
Newark  in  New  Jersey,  where  we  examined  quarries 
of  the  New  Red  Sandstone,  and  saw  tlit?  siuilu-Cf^  of  the 
strata  ripple-marked,  and  witii  impressions  of  rain- 
drops. They  also  exhibit  casts  on  their  under  sides  of 
cracks,  which  have  been  formed  by  the  shrinking  of 
the  layers  of  clay  when  drying.  These  appearances, 
together  with  imbedded  fragments  of  carbonized  fosi^fil 
wood,  such  as  may  have  been  drifted  on  a  beach,  be- 
speak the  littoral  character  of  the  formation  on  \\  hich, 
in  many  places  in  Connecticut  and  31a.-sachu.-:ct(s,  the 
fossil  foolsieps  of  birds,  to  which  I  shall  afterwards  al- 
lude, have  been  found  imprinted. 

Ausi''  1^>- — Sailed  in  the  splendid  new  steam-r^hip  the 
Troy,  m  company  with  about  5(]()  passengers,  from 
New  York  to  Albany,  145  miles,  at  the  rate  of  about 
16  miles  an  hour.  When  1  was  informed  that  "seven- 
teen of  these  vessels  went  to  a  mile,"  it  i^ecmed  incred- 
ible, but  I  found  that  in  fact  the  deck  measured  SOO 
feet  in  length.  To  give  a  sutiicient  supply  of  oxygen 
to  the  anthracite,  the  machinery  is  made  to  work  two 
bellows,  which  blow  a  strong  current  of  air  into  the  fur- 
nace. The  Hudson  is  an  arm  of  the  sea  or  estuary, 
about  twelve  fathoms  deep,  alcove  New  York,  and  its 
waters  are  inhabited  by  a  curious  mixture  of  marine 
and  fresh-water  plants  and  mollusca.  At  first  on  our 
left,  or  on  the  western  bank,  we  had  a  lofty  precipice 
of  columnar  basalt  from  400  to  6C0  feet  in  height, 
called  the  Palisades,  exti;emely  picturesque.  This 
basalt  rests  on  sandstone,  which  is  of  the  same  age  as 


CllAP.    I. 


ALBANY. 


13 


I 


t 

4 


I 


I 


thai  before  nientionod  near  Xew  Ilavon.  i)iit  has  an  op- 
pasife  or  westward  dip.  On  arriving^  ai  the  Highland^!, 
t!ie  winding'  channel  is  closed  in  by  j^teep  hills  of  gneiss 
on  both  sides,  and  the  ve>sel  often  holds  her  course  as  if 
bearin<j^  di  ectly  oa  the  land.  Tie  stranu't  r  c  innot  guess 
ill  winch  direction  he  is  to  penetrate  the  rocky  g'or^;!^, 
but  lie  soon  enierijes  again  into  a  broad  valley,  the  blue 
Catskili  mountains  appearini*'  in  the  listance.  The 
scenery  deserves  all  the  praise  which  has  L'een  lavished 
upon  it,  and  w  hen  the  passa<;c  is  made  in  tiine  hours  it 
is  hdl  of  variety  and  contrast. 

At  Albany,  a  town  iinely  situated  on  the  Hudson, 
and  the  capital  of  the  State  of  Xew  York,  I  found  sev- 
eral geologists  emj^loycd  in  the  ( Tovernnient  survey, 
and  busily  engaged  in  forming  a  line  museum,  to  illus- 
trate the  organic  remains  and  mineral  products  of  tlie 
country.  This  .Slate  is  divided  into  about  the  same 
numlter  of  counties  as  England,  aiul  is  not  very  iiiferior 
to  it  in  extent  of  territory.  The  legislatme  four  years 
ago  voted  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  more  than 
200,(1011  dollars,  or  10,000 guineas,  for  exploriiig  its  Nat- 
mal  History  and  mineral  structure:  and  at  the  end  of 
the  first  tvro  years  several  of  the  g<>ologicc'.l  surveyors, 
of  whom  four  principal  ones  vrere  appf»inted,  reported, 
among  oilier  residts,  their  opinion,  that  no  coal  would 
ever  be  discovered  in  their  n^-^pective  districts.  This 
announcement  caused  no  small  disappointment,  espe- 
cially as  the  neighbouring  state  of  Pennsylvania  was 
very  rich  in  coal.  Accordingly,  durina*  my  tour,  I 
heard  frequent  complaints  that,  not  satisfied  with  their 
inability  to  fmd  coal  themselves,  the  surveyors  had  de- 
cided that  no  one  else  would  ever  be  able  to  detect  any, 
having  had  the  presumption  to  pass  a  sentence  of  future 

2 


i' 


n 


11; 


« 


(Ill* 


!lli 


i 


[111 


i  I'l 


If !  U 
H' i  It!; 


li!'ii 


li!!'' 


i|i 


i  I 

i  lit- 


14 


GPZOLOGICAL    SURVEYS, 


Chap,  i 


sterility  on  the  wliolo  laiiil.  Yet,  in  spite  of  these  expres- 
sions of  ill-humour,  it  was  satisfactory  to  observe  that 
tlie  rashness  of  private  speculators  had  received  a 
wholesojne  check  •  and  larsfe  sums  of  money,  which 
for  twenty  years  previously  had  been  annually  squan- 
drrfjd  In  trials  lor  coal  in  rocks  below  the  carboniferous 
Fe\hfi,  v.cre  henceforth  saved  to  the  public.  There  can 
he  little  doubt  that  the  advantage  derived  to  the  re 
pourcvis  of  the  8tate  by  the  cessation  of  this  annual 
rutlay  alone,  and  the  more  prolitable  direction  since 
fjiven  to  private  enterprise,  is  sullicient  to  indemnify  the 
country,  on  mere  utilitarian  grounds,  for  the  sum  so 
munificently  expended  by  the  government  on  geologi- 
cal investigations.  The  resemblance  of  certain  Silurian 
I'ocks  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  river  to  the  bitumi- 
aous  shales  of  the  true  Coal  formation  was  the  chief 
^ause  of  the  deception  which  misled  the  mining  adven- 
turers oi"  New  York.  I  made  an  excursion  southwards 
•Vom  Albany,  with  a  party  of  geologists,  to  Normans- 
kill  Creek,  where  there  is  a  waterfall,  to  examine  these 
black  slates,  containing  graplolites,  trilobites,  and  other 
Lower  Silurian  fossils.  By  persons  ignorant  of  the  or- 
der of  supeipusition  and  of  fossil  remains,  they  might 
easily  be  mistaken  for  ( 'oal  measures,  especially  as 
some  small  particles  of  anthrncite.  perhaps  of  animal 
origin,  do  actually  occur  in  them. 

On  leaving  Albany,  T.  det<'rmined  so  to  plan  my  route 
to  the  Falls  of  Niaarara  and  back  again  to  the  Hudson, 
as  to  enable  me  to  see  by  the  way  the  entire  succession 
of  mineral  groups  from  tlie  lowest  Silurian  up  to  the 
coal  of  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  James  Hall,  to  whose  hands 
the  north-west  division  of  the  geological  survey  of  New 
York  had  been  confided,  kindlv  offered  himself  as  rnv 


I 


I 


Chap.  1.      ANCIENT  OR  HILIRIAN  FOIIM ATIONS. 


1» 


i 


I 


guide.  Takin<^  the  railway  to  SclicMectady,  and  along 
the  Moliawk  valloy,  wc  lirst  stopped  at  Little  Falls, 
where  we  examined  the  gneiss  and  the  lowest  Silurian 
sandr,tone  resting  upon  it.  We  then  pursued  our  jour- 
ney along  the  line  of  the  Eric  Canal  and  the  Moiiawk 
River,  stopping  here  and  theie  to  examine  quarries  of 
limestone,  and  making  a  short  detour  through  the  hcau- 
tiful  valley  of  Cedarville  in  Herkimer  County,  where 
there  is  a  line  section  of  the  strata.  Afterwards  we  ex- 
plored the  picturesque;  ravine  through  which  the  Gene- 
see flows  at  Rochester,  the  river  descending  by  a  suc- 
cession of  cataracts  over  the  same  rocks  which  are  ex- 
posed farther  westward  on  the  Niagara.  The  excava- 
tions also  made  for  the  grand  c.inal  at  Lockport  aflbrded 
us  a  fine  opportunity  of  seeing  these  older  fossilifcrous 
rocks  laid  open  to  view.  At  this  point  the  barges  laden 
with  merchandise  climb  up,  l)y  a  series  of  locks  placed 
one  above  tlie  otiicr,  to  the  table  land  in  which  Lake 
Erie  is  situated.  In  the  course  of  this  short  tour,  I  be- 
came convinced  that  we  nuirft  turn  to  the  New  World 
if  we  wish  to  see  in  perfection  tlie  oldest  monuments  of 
the  earth's  history,  so  far  at  least  as  relates  to  its  earli- 
est inhabitants.  Certainly  in  no  other  country  are 
these  ancient  strata  developed  on  a  grander  scale,  or 
more  plentifully  charged  with  fossils ;  and,  as  they  are 
nearly  horizontal,  the  order  of  their  relative  position  is 
always  clear  and  unequivocal.  They  exhibit,  more- 
over, in  their  range  from  the  Hudson  River  to  the  Ni- 
agara, some  fine  examples  of  the  gradual  manner  in 
which  certain  sets  of  strata  thin  out  when  followed  for 
hundreds  of  miles,  while  others  previously  wanting  be- 
come intercalated  in  the  series.  Thus,  for  example, 
some  of  tho  limestones  which  are  several  hundred  feel 


!■ 


it  <] 


I! 

i  > 

I  I 


'■+-; 


:^!Hl 


'    .HI 


'I 

,   it!*' 
I'li'i 


M 


hi!* 


i:4 


16 


ANCIENT  OR  SILURIAN  FORMATIONS.      ClIAP.  l. 


(hick  in  the  Ilol.leiheig  Hills,  near  Albany,  are  scarcely 
hny  feet  tliick  in  tiio  Niag-ar.i  di.suict  ;  and  on  die 
othiM*  hanJ,  the  rocks  over  which  the  cataract  of  Ni 
a^^.ira  n  p.ocip'.tated,  d\vindlc  away  to  such  insigniHcant 
di  ii;'nsioiis  wiien  fjllo-yed  eastward  to  (lie  hiils  S.  W. 
of  A.hany,  that  their  pkice  in  the  series  there  can 
sc  irceiy  b"  rcc;)^iH:>ed.  iVnother  iijtereslinj^  Tict  may 
be  noiicjd  as  I  he  resu  t  even  of  a  cnrsoiy  survey  ol"  t^iC 
{j.44is  of  lliese  No.  ill  Aiue,ijaii  roc';s,  naine'y,  tliat 
while  .-onie  of  tin;  sj);cic.?  a'^.\;e.  the  nuijo.ity  of  them 
are  nol  i  ientical  v.illi  those  found  in  strata,  which  aro 
their  e(i!iivMk?nts  in  ag>'  aiil  j)  Jdition  on  the  otiier  side 
of  t!ie  Atlantic.  Some  fjs.;iLS  wliich  urn  i  icn'ical,  such 
as  Atrypd  njjiiu.^,  L"i>'(Biia  depressa^  and  L.  ciigJy- 
plui^  are  precisely  those  s'leks  wliich  have  a  great  ver- 
tical and  hoiizMiial  rang(;  in  Europe, — s[:ecies  which 
were  capable  of  surviving  many  successive  changes  in 
the  earth's  surface,  and  for  the  same  reason  enjoyed  at 
certain  periods  a  wide  geographiv:al  range;  It  has  been 
usuali}^  aifirmed  that  in  the  rocks  older  than  the  car- 
boniferous, the  fossil  fauna  in  di:I(;rent  parts  of  the  globe 
was  almost  every  where  the  same;  but,  juvlging  from 
the  fa'st  assemblage  of  organic  remains  which  I  have 
seen  here,  it  appears  to  me,  that  however  close  the 
general  analogy  of  forms  may  be,  there  is  evidence  of 
the  same  law  of  variation  in  space  as  now  prevails  in 
the  living  creation. 

A  few  years  ago,  it  was  a  fatiguing  tour  of  many 
weeks  to  reach  the  Falls  of  Niagara  from  Albany.  We 
are  now  carried  along  at  the  rate  of  sixteen  miles  an 
hour,  on  a  railway  often  supported  on  piles,  through 
large  swamps  covered  with  aquatic  trees  and  shrubs,  or 
through  dense  forests,  with  occasional  clearings  wdiere 


i 


t 


I'l 


I  •  i'' 


Chap.  i. 


PROSPERITY    OF    TIIK    PEOPLK 


17 


i 


si 


orcliards  are  planted  by  anticipation  among  the  stumps, 
before  tliey  have  even  had  time  to  run  up  a  log-iiouse. 
The  traveller  viev.s  with  riurpii.se,  in  tl:<!  midst  of"  so 
much  uiioceunied  land,  one  llourishini^-  town  aficr  an- 
other, such  as  rtica,  Syracuse,  and  Auburn.    At  iJoches- 
ter  he  admires  the  streets  of  large  Lousi-s,  inhabited  liy 
2(M)(.1U  souls,  where  tlic  first  settler  built  his  log-cabin 
in  the  wilderiiess  only  twenty-lhe  years  ago.     At  one 
point  our  train  stojiped  at  a  handsome  m^w  \nml  sta- 
tion-house, and,  looking  out  at  one  window,  we  saw  a 
grouj)  of  Inthans  of  the  Oneida  tribe,  lately  the  owners 
of  the  broad  lands  around,  but  now  humbly  olll'ring 
for  sale  a  few  trinkets,  such  as  Ijaskets  ornamentenl  with 
porcupine  cpiills,  moccasins  of  moose-deer  skin,  and  boxes 
of   birch -bark.      At  the  other  window  stood    a   well- 
dressed  waiter  handing  ices  and  confectionary.     AVlien 
we  reiiect  that  some  single  towns,  of  which  the  founda- 
tions were  laid  by  persons  still  living,  can  already  num- 
ber a   j)opulation,  equal   to  all  the  aboriginal  hunter 
tribes  who  possessed  the  fjrests  for  hundreds  of  miles 
around,  we  soon  cense  to  repine  at  tlie  extraordinary 
revolution,  however   nnicli    we  may  commiserate  the 
unhappy  fate  of  the  disinluuited  race.     They  who  are 
accustomed  to  cotmect  the  romance  of  their  travels  ir 
Europe  or  iVsia  with  historical  recolk'ctions  and   th 
monuments  of  former  glory,  with  the  study  of  mastcr- 
oieces  in  the  fine  arts,  or  with  grand  and  magnificent 
scv'iuMy,   will    hardly   believe   the    romantic  sensations 
M'hich  may  be  inspired  by  the  aspect  of  this  region, 
where  very  fevv'  points  of  picturescpie  beauty  mei^t  the 
eye.  and  where  the  aboriginal  forest  has  lost  its  charm 
of  savage  wildncss  by  the  intrusion  of  railways  and  ca- 
nals.    The  foreign  natiualist  indeed  sees  novelty   in 

2* 


.1 1 


I- 


m 


«.  .'ii 


18 


PllOSPKRITY    OF    Tin:    PEOPLE. 


Cmap.  I 


mm 

M 
M 

ill  ^'11,1 


'  ''ill! 


i 


.1 


every  plan f,  bird,  and  insect;  and  ,tl;e  rpinarkable  re 
semblances  c.i'  iIk;   i<;('ky  ;it   ;--o  g'i'cat   a  (!i-;i;;ncc  fioni 
lionie  are  lo  iiiin  a  i-oiiicc  vX  wondt.T  and   in,^:lri;cii:)n. 
But  tbere  are  other  objecl.,<  ol'  infen.rc  inlcrest,  <o  en- 
liven  or  excite  tlic  imagination  of  every  traveller.    Hero, 
instead  of  dwelling'  on  the  past,  and  on  the  i^igns  of 
pomp  and  grandeur  which  have  vanished,  the  mind  is 
filled   with   images  of   conting   power   and    splendour, 
'flic  vast  stride  made  by  one  generation  in  a  brief  mo- 
ment of  ti.'iie,  naturally  disp.oses  us  to  magnify  and  ex- 
aggerate the  rajiid  rate  of  futuie  improvement.     IMic 
contemplation  oi"  so  much  prosperity,  such  entire  ab- 
sence of  want  and  poverty,  so  many  scliool-houses  and 
churches,  rising  every  where  in  the  woods,  and  such  a 
general  desire  of  education,  with  the  consciousness  that 
a  great  contiiient  lies  beyond,  which  has  still  to  be  ap- 
propriated, tills  the  traveller  with  cheering  thoughts  and 
sanguine  hopes.     He  may  be  reminded  tliat  tliere  is 
another  side  to  the  picture,  that  where  the  success  has 
been  so  brilliant  and  where  large  fortunes  have  been 
hastily  realised,  there  will  be  rash  speculations  and  bit- 
ter disappointments ;  but  these  ideas  do  not  force  them- 
selves into  the  reveries  of  the  passing  stranger.     He 
sees  around  him  the  solid  fruits  of  victory,  and  forgets 
that  many  a  soldier  in  the  foremost  ranks  has  fallen  in 
the  breach ;  and  cold  indeed  would  be  his  temperament 
if  he  did  not  sympathise  with  the  freshness  and  hope- 
fulness of  a  new  country,  and  feel  as  men  past  the 
prime  of  life  are  accustomed  to  feel  when  in  company 
Viilli  the  young,  who  are  full  of  health  and  buoyant 
spirits,  of  faith  and  confidence  in  the  future. 

An,£i\  24. — In  the  suburbs  ol'  Rochester,  Mr.  Hall 
and  I  visited  a  spot  where  the  remains  of  -h-)  great 


■V 


ClIAP.    I. 


l.AKi:    ONTARIO. — TORTOISES. 


19 


HaU 
great 


Mastodon  hnd  bf^oii  dug  up  from  a  bed  of  wliite  shcll- 
niarl.  I  foniid  fia'^nnoiits  of  llie  (o<?\\  tcctli  nii;l  ivory  of 
one  tusk,  and  ascertained  tluU  the  accoinpanyiii-^  shells 
were  of  recejit  sj^ccio-j  of  tlie  genera  L  inncu,  Plunor- 
bls,  Valva/a.  Ci/rhis,  v.^c.  We  alsa  examined  the 
narrow  ridge  conipo-ed  of  sand  and  gravel  between 
Rochester  and  Lake  Ontario,  which  lias  been  traced  for 
a  hunilred  miles,  rumiini;'  nearly  jiarallcl  to  the  lake, 
and  from  three  to  ei^ht  miles  distant  from  it.  It  rises 
from  ten  to  twenty  feet  aboNe  the  general  level  of  the 
surrounding  j)!ain  of  clay,  and  |)resents  a  steep  sloj)c  to 
the  nordi  and  south,  ailbrding  an  excellent  road,  like 
the  sand-ridges  or  osars  which  I  have  seen  in  Sweden, 
and  which  arc  douljticss  of  similar  oriiiin.  Gcokmsts 
are  all  agreed  that  these  and  other  similar  ridges  sur- 
rounding the  great  Canadian  lakes,  and  occurring  at 
dilferent  height.s  abov(i  them,  were  once  lines  of  beach 
surrounding  great  bodies  of  water.  Whether  these  con- 
sisted of  lakes  or  seas, — how  the  water  came  to  stand 
at  so  many  dillerent  levels,  and  whether  some  of  the 
ridges  were  not  originally  banks  and  bars  of  sand 
formed  under  water,  are  points  which  I  shall  discuss  in 
the  sequel. 

While  we  were  roaming  along  the  shore  of  Lake  On- 
tario, to  compare  the  old  ridge  lond  with  the  modern 
beach,  we  saw  several  tortoises  of  different  sj)ecies  bask- 
ing in  the  sun  on  logs  of  drift  wood  in  the  shallow 
ponds  connected  with  the  lake.  We  caught  one  of 
these  {TiSfiuh  pic(a),  which  has  a  gaily  coloured 
shell,  and  I  afterwards  carried  it  a  day's  journey  in 
the  carriage,  and  then  turned  it  out,  to  see  whether,  a.s 
I  was  told,  it  would  know  its  way  back  to  Lake  On- 
tario.    I  am  bound  to  ad^iit  that  its  instinct  on  this 


*•  ..i 


ll , 


II 

m 
lit 


if 

Hilt 


•^!i- 


1^1 

if 


20 


NEAV  settli::rs. 


Chap,  i 


occasion  did  not.  fail,  for  it  made  directly  for  a  ravino,  in 
the  bottom  of  wliicli  was  a  stream  ll'af  woiiM  lead  it 
in  lime  t>  the  (iein's'e  iUver,  [im]  tl-is  won!;!  carry  if 
to  it:<  native  lake,  if  it  escaped  destriuMi m  a  I  ihe  1  ill?! 
helow  lioclu'.ster,  where  the  C(?lehr:te-l  iliver,  Sam 
Patch,  peri,  hed,  after  he  l.ad  succeeded  i.i  throwing 
hiinseh'  w  ith  impunity  down  several  other  great  water- 
falls. There  is  a  fresh-water  tortoi.-e  in  Europe  ^^  7' r- 
r{//>yt/a  IJtnnpca),  found  in  Hungar}',  Pru:v>ia,  and 
Silesia,  as  far  north  as  lat.  50''  to  5:^-'.  It  also  occurs 
near  Boide.ui.v,  anil  in  the  north  of  Italy,  IP  and  l;)'-" 
N.  lat.,  which  precisely  corresponds  with  the  latitude  of 
Lake  Ontario. 

In  moist  places  along  the  lake  shore,  and  in  the  lanes 
and  high  roads,  we  saw  numerous  yellow  butterilies 
{CoNas  phibidicf- — C.  E/tro/>of/i(i  of  some  authors) 
very  like  a  British  species.  Sometimes  forty  clustering 
on  a  small  sjwt  resembled  a  plot  of  primroses,  and  as 
they  rose  altogether,  and  Hew  oil'  slo\\ly  on  every  side, 
it  was  Ukc  the  play  of  a  beautiful  fountain. 

On  our  way  home  through  the  woods  we  stopped  at 
the  cabin  of  some  new  settlers  near  the  lake,  nianv 
miles  from  any  neighljours,  in  the  midst  of  a  stjuare 
clearing  covered  with  hlackencd  stumps,  wliere  not  a 
single  tree  or  slu'idj  had  been  spared.  The  view  was 
bounded  on  evei*y  side  I)y  a  d(mse  wall  of  dark  wood 
striped  with  white  by  the  vertical  lines  of  the  mniierous 
tall  and  straight  trees  without  side  branches,  and  sup- 
porting a  dark  canopy  of  foliage.  AVhen  we  admired 
the  forest,  the  settler's  wife  was  pleased,  but  said,  sigh- 
ing, that  she  could  not  get  her  children  to  see  any 
beauty  in  trees.      They  had   never   known  the   old 


1 


"$ 


l|t|: 


Chap.  i. 


NEW    SETTLERS. 


21 


f 


country,  nor  other  frieiitis,  and  were  liappitM-  tlian  she 
and  her  hunbanJ  could  bo,  th()u<rh  in  tlieir  worldly 
comcriis  they  were  thriving,  and  iiad  every  reason  to 
feel  content,  except  wlien  attacked  by  the  a^-uc,  so 
common  in  the  newly-cleared  grounds. 


m 
ill 


I 


i  11 


i 


(I 
•1  i 


fi'< 


r    ^ 


'h',1 


'u 


FALLS    OP    NIAGARA: 


CilAP.  II. 


CHAPTER  II. 


t 


m 


'lip' 

w 

;r!, 


Distant  and  near  View  of  the  Falls  of  Niagara. —  Whether  the  Falls 
have  receded  from  Quennaton  to  thiir  present  S  le. — Geographical 
Features  of  the  Region. — Course  of  the  River  above  and  helow 
the  Falls. — Recent  Proofs  of  Erosim. — llisloriral  Data  in  the 
Works  of  Hennepin  and  Knbn. — Geological  Evidence  derived 
'iro/rt  Flnviatile  Strata  or  Rrmnnnis  of  an  old  River-hcd  in  Gjat 
Island  and  elsewhere. — Difficulty  of  computing  the  Rate  of  the 
retrograde  Movement. —  Vari/infr  Hardness  and  Thickness  of  the 
R>cks  undermined. — Future  R'^cp'ision. — Age  of  the  Drift  and 
Limestone  Escarpments. — Surretsive  Changes  which  preceded  and 
accompanied  the  Origin  of  the  Falls. — Ri'Jleclions  on  the  Lupxe  of 
past  Time. 

Atur.  27. — We  first  came  in  sig'ht  of  the  Fulls  of 
Niagara  when  tlicy  were  about  tlircc  miies  distant. 
The  sun  was  shininj^  full  upon  thcni — no  btiiWinir  in 
view — nothing  but  the  green  wood,  the  falling  water, 
and  the  white  foam.  At  that  moment  they  appeared 
to  me  more  beautiful  than  I  had  expected,  and  less 
grand ;  but  after  several  days,  when  I  liad  enjoyed  a 
nearer  view  of  the  two  cataract?^.  had  listened  to  their 
thundering  sound,  and  gazed  on  them  for  hours  from 
above  and  below,  and  had  watched  the  river  foaming 
over  the  rapids,  then  plunging  headlong  into  the  dark 
pool, — and  when  I  had  explored  the  delightful  island 
which  divides  tlie  falls,  where  the  solitude  of  the  an- 
cient forest  is  still  unbroken,  I  at  last  learned  by  de- 
grees to  comprehend  the  wonders  of  the  scene,  ard  to 
feel  its  full  magnificence. 

Early  in  the  morning  after  our  arrival,  I  saw  from 
the  window  of  our  hotel,  on  the  American  side,  a  long 
traiu  of  white  vapoury  clouds  hanginof  over  the  deep 


4 

i: 


Chap. 


THEIR    GEOGRAPHICAL    FE  VTUIIES. 


23 


deep 


chasm  Ijelow  the  falls.  They  were  sliglitly  tinted  by 
tlie  rays  of  the  risiiii(  sun,  and  blown  slowly  north- 
wards by  a  ii^enlle  bre(»ze  from  the  pool  below  the  cat- 
aract, which  was  itself  invisiblo  from  this  point  of  view. 
No  (og  was  risini^  from  the  gronnd,  the  sky  was  clear 
above  ;  and  as  the  day  advanced,  and  the  air  grew 
warm,  the  vaj)onrs  all  disappeared.  This  scene  re- 
minded me  of  my  lirst  view  of  i\Ionnt  Etna  from 
Catania,  at  snnrise  in  the  autnmn  of  182S,  when  I 
saw  denst?  vohnnes  of  steam  issning  from  the  snnmiit 
of  the  highest  crater  in  a  clear  bine  sky,  which,  at  the 
height  of  more  than  two  miles  above  the  s(\'i,  assumed 
at  once  the  usual  shape  and  hues  of  clouds  in  the  up- 
per atmosplKMe.  ^riicse,  too,  vanished  before  noon,  as 
soon  as  the  sun's  lieat  in<'reased. 

Etna  pre;-ents  us  not  merely  witli  aji  ijnage  of  the 
power  of  subterranean  heat,  but  a  record  also  of  the 
vast  period  of  time  during  which  tliat  power  has  been 
exerted.  A  nuijeslic  mountain  lias  I)een  produced  by 
volcanic  action,  yet  tljc  time  of  whicii  the  volcano 
form-^  the  register,  however  vast,  is  found  by  the  geol- 
ogist to  be  of  inconsiiierable  amount,  even  in  the  mod- 
ern annals  of  tJie  earth's  hi-^tory.  In  like  manner,  the 
Falls  of  Niagara  teach  us  not  merely  to  appreciate  the 
power  of  moving  watei",  but  furnish  us  at  the  same 
time  with  data  for  estimating  the  enormous  lapse  of 
ages  during  whicli  that  force  has  operated.  A  deep 
and  long  ravine  has  l)een  excavated,  and  the  river 
has  required  ages  to  accomplish  the  task,  yet  the  same 
region  aflbrds  evidence  that  the  sum  of  these  acces  is 
as  notliing,  and  as  the  work  of  yesterday,  when  com- 
pared to  the  antecedent  periods,  of  which  there  are 
moniuiients  in  the  same  distiict 


i 


fik 


84 


COURSE  OF  Tin;  nivr.ii 


Ciur.  n 


i  l]i;lll.: 


I  ' 


0  ,ii*!'- 


M 

m 


m 

'  '  'litiiii 


i  m 


% 


It.  lias  loiifT  Ijecn  ;i  favomito  sulijrct  of  discussion 
wliclluT  llio  I' alls  were  once  situated  si'\cn  nnlos  farllicr 
u;)tt!»,  or  al  (liKnision.  'I'Im;  ideal  hirdVeye  viev/ 
given  in  tiie  IVoiitispiece  may  assist  (lie  reader  who  has 
not  visited  llie  spot  to  foiiii  u  toleiai)ly  correct  general 
notion  of  tiu;  m'o<^ra|)iiical  confi«^ura(ion  of  this  coun- 


try,  wlucli  IS  very  saiiple 


'y\ 


10    view 


has  I 


)een  coiv 


slrucf(!(l  from  a  sketcli  pui)lishc(l   hy  Mr.  Bakewell,  in 
Loudon's  Mairaxiiie  for  lyi>(),  into  which  the  ofeoloiiical 


)f  tl 


representation  oi  the  rocks,  as  they  appear  on  tlie  sur- 
fcicc  and  in  the  ravine  of  tlie  Nia<;ara,  has  hcen  intro- 
duced from  the  State  Survey  hy  Mr.  llall.*  The  plat- 
Ibrm,  in  a  d(>pression  of  which  Ijakc  Laie  is  situated,  is 
more  than  330  feet  above  Lake  Ontario,  and  liic  de- 
scent from  a  higher  to  a  lower  level  is  sudden  and  ab- 
rupt at  the  escarpment  called  the  Queenston  heights. 
The  strata  througliout  this  whole  region  are  nearly 
horizontal,  but  they  have  a  gentle  dip  to  the  south  of 
25  feet  in  a  mile.  This  inclination  U  sullicient  to 
cause  the  dillerent  groups  of  rock  to  crop  out  one  from 
beneath  the  other,  or  come  up  to  the  siurface  in  parallel 
zones,  which  may  be  traced  for  a  great  distance  east 
and  west  through  the  state  of  New  York  and  ( 'anada. 
(See  ]Map.)  They  all  consist  of  diirerent  members  of 
the  Silurian  series,  the  uppermost  or  newest  being  those 
nearest  to  Lake  Erie.  (See  section  fig.  4.,  p.  37.)  In 
the  bird's-eye  view,  the  Niagara  is  seen  bounded  by 

*  IMr.  Bakewcll  gave  me  his  original  sketches  in  1841,  and  I  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  coinbi;iiii<r  his  pictorial  view  with  a  geological  repre- 
sentation of  the  rocks  before  I  ^iwe  a  lecture  on  the  Niagara  district 
at  Boston,  in  October,  1841,  in  which,  and  in  planning  some  of  the 
other  diagrams,  and  ill  discuiising  the  tlieory  of  recession,  1  was  ati> 
siiited  by  Mr.  Hall. 


-7% 


Ckai*.  n 

cusfjion 
faitlior 
e  viev/ 
•ho  has 
general 
IS  coiin- 
LMl  coii- 
wcll,  ill 
ological 
ho  sur- 
n  infro- 
ho  phu- 
iat(;(l,  is 
liic  (lo- 
lutl  ah- 
lic'ights. 

nearly 
oulh  of 
:ieiit  to 
le  from 
parallel 
cc  cast 

inada. 
jers  of 
g  those 
7.)  In 
ded  by 

d  I  con- 
al  rppre- 
i  district 
e  of  liie 
wus  ati> 


Chap.  It.      Anovr,    \.\n  ni:T,ow  tiik  falls. 


25 


% 


?i 


i 


low  bnnks  w  hrrr  it  iv-^iirs  from  Lake  l*]rip,  and  varying 
in  wiltli  {\\ni\  one  to  tiiree  n'.iles.  It  here  resembles  a 
piolonii^'Uion  of  the  InuKiuil  lake,  bein<^  interspersed 
\vith  low  \\()i);le(l  islands.  This  lake-like  scenery  con- 
tiimes  for  abont  lifieen  miles,  dnrinir  wiiich  the  fall  of  the 
river  scanM'ly  exceeds  as  many  feet,  bnt  on  reaching  the 
ra|)i!'s,  it  descends  over  a  limestone  bed  al)ont  50  feet  in 
less  than  a  mile,  and  is  then  thrown  down  about  105 
feet  peipendicularly  at  the  Falls.  The  largest  of  these, 
called  the  Horseshoe  Fall,  is  1800  feet,  or  more  than  a 
third  of  a  mile,  broad,  the  island  in  the  midst  somewhat 
l(;ss  ill  wi;Uh,  and  the  American  Fall  about  600  feet 
wide.  The  dee[)  narrow  chasm  below  the  great  cata- 
ract is  from  200  to  100  yards  wide,  and  300  feet  deep; 
and  here  in  seven  miles  the  river  descends  100  feet,  at 
the  enil  of  which  it  emerges  from  the  gorge  into  the 
open  and  Hat  country,  so  nearly  on  a  level  with  Lake 
Ontario  that  there  is  only  a  fall  of  about  four  feet  in 
the  seven  additional  miles  which  intervene  between 
Quoenston  and  the  Lake.  The  great  ravine  is  wind- 
inor,  and  makes  a  turn  nearly  at  riirht  andes  to  itself  at 
the  whirlj>ool,  where  the  Niagara  sweeps  round  a  large 
circular  basin,  but  it  is  represented  in  the  frontispiece  as 
nearly  straight,  for  the  sake  of  showing  the  stratifica- 
tion ;  and  its  proportional  height  is  puiposely  exagger- 
ated. At  some  points  the  boundary  cliffs  are  under- 
mined on  one  side  by  the  impetuous  stream,  but  there 
is  usually  a  talus  at  the  base  of  the  precipice,  support- 
ing a  very  ornamental  fringe  of  trees. 

It  has  long  been  the  popular  belief,  from  a  mere  cur- 
sory inspection  of  this  district,  that  the  Niagara  once 
flowed  in  a  shallow  valley  across  the  whole  platform 
from  the  present  site  of  the  Falls  to  the  Q,ueenstoj» 


RECENT    PROOFS    OF    EROSION. 


Chap  n. 


I"  tii 


I H 


"i'1-1 

!'.i':' 


i 


111:' 
I'll' 1,1 


^'illi; 


■'!fii;i,; 


/m 


4,: 

Mi 


heights,  where  it  is  supposed  the  cataract  was  first  sit- 
uated, and  that  the  river  has  been  slowly  eating  its 
way  backwards  through  the  rocks  for  a  distance  of 
eeven  miles.  According  to  this  hypothesis,  the  F'alls 
must  have  had  originally  nearly  twice  their  present 
height,  and  must  hai'e  been  always  diminishing  in 
grandeur  from  age  to  ago,  as  they  will  continue  to  do 
in  future  so  long  as  the  retrograde  movement  is  pro- 
longed. It  becomes,  therefore,  a  matter  of  no  small 
curiosity  and  interest  to  inquire  at  what  rate  the  work 
of  excavation  is  now  going  on,  and  thus  to  obtain  a 
measure  for  calculating  how  many  thousands  of  years 
or  centurie3  have  been  required  to  hallow  out  the 
chasm  aheady  excavated. 

It  is  an  ascertained  fact,  that  the  Falls  do  not  re- 
main absolutely  stationary  at  the  same  point  of  space, 
and  that  they  have  shifted  their  position  slightly  du- 
ring the  last  half  century.  Every  observer  willal-obe 
convinced  that  the  small  portion  of  the  gvan  ravine, 
which  has  been  eroded  within  the  mrMnory  of  man,  is 
so  precisely  identical  in  character  with  tlie  wliole  ^rorge 
for  seven  miles  below,  that  the  river  supplies  an  ade- 
quate cause  for  exccuiing  the  task  assi-^ncd  to  it,  pro- 
vided we  grant  sufficient  time  for  its  completion. 

The  waters,  after  cutting  througli  strata  of  limcslone, 
about  fifty  feet  thick  in  the  rapids,  descend  perpendic- 
ularly at  the  Falls  over  another  mass  of  limestone 
about  ninety  feet  thick,  beneath  which  lie  soft  shales  of 
equal  thickness,  continually  undermined  by  the  ac- 
tion of  the  spray  driven  violently  by  gusts  of  wind 
against  the  base  of  the  precipice.  Iti  conse(]uoncG  of 
this  disintegration,  portions  of  the  incumbent  rock  are 
left  unsupported,  au4  ti^uj^^le  dgwu  iroux  time  to  time, 


i 


Chap.  ii. 


RECENT    PROOFS    OF    EROSION. 


27 


r='M:l!,\v;  i;^^ 


I'SlOllO, 

leiidic- 
)stone 
tics  of 
\e  ac- 

wind 
lico  of 
Ik  arc 

time, 


SO  that  tlic  cataract  is  uyxCc  to  rcco  lo 
The  s^utldc'U  descent  of  l.iue  rocky  fri:<;ii:e!i's  (.!  Mu- 
iiiiderniiued  linicstone  at  tlie  H(;r.>(  sice  luV-.  \\\  i>,S, 
and  aiiotlier  at  the  American  l-'ai!,  in  1818,  nrc  sni::  lo 
liave  siiaken  the  adjacent  country  like  an  earl!. (;u:- lie, 
Accordini^  to  the  statement  of  our  guide  in  181},  .S;;m- 
uei  Hooker,  an  indentation  of  ahout  Ibrty  iect  has  1  cen 
produced  in  trie  middle  of  the  ledge  of  limestone  at  the 
lesser  fall  since  the  year  1815,  so  that  it  has  begun  to 
assume  tiie  shape  of  a  crescent,  while  within  the  same 
period  the  Horseshoe  Fall  has  been  altered  so  as 
less  to  deserve  its  name.  Goat  Island  has  lost  sev- 
eral acres  in  area  in  the  last  lour  years,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  this  waste  neither  is,  nor  has  l)een,  a  mere 
temporary  accident,  since  I  found  that  the  sam;>  r.ccs- 
sion  was  in  progress  in  various  other  waterfalls  which  1 
visited  with  Mr.  Hall,  in  the  state  of  New  York.  Some 
of  these  inter>ect  the  same  rocks  as  the  Miai^ara — lor 
exami)le,  the  Genesee  at  Rochester;  others  arc  cutting 
their  way  throug^i  newer  formations,  as  Allan's  Creek 
below  Le  Roy,  or  the  Genesee  at  its  upper  fails  nt  Por- 
tage. Mr.  I?akewell  calculated  that,  in  the  forty  years 
preceding  1830,  the  Niagara  had  been  going  hack  at 
the  rate  of  about  a  yard  annually,  but  I  conceive  that 
one  foot  per  year  would  be  a  much  more  probable  con- 
jecture, in  which  case  35,000  years  would  have  been 
recjuired  for  the  retreat  of  the  Falls  from  the  escarp- 
ment of  Queenston  to  their  present  site,  if  w'c  could  as- 
sume that  the  retrograde  movement  had  been  uniform 
throughout.  This,  however,  could  not  have  been  the 
case,  as  at  every  step  in  the  process  of  e::cavatinn  the 
height  of  the  precipice,  the  hardness  of  the  materials  at 
its  base,  and   the  quantity  of  falleu  matter  to  be  re- 


:i  I 


m 


'ni.j 


n 


28       DATA    IN    Tin:    WORKS    OF    ITKXNEPIN.       Cuat.   11. 

moved,  iim^f  have  v.irird.  At,  some  poiiils  it  may  have 
recevled  mih'li  faster  than  at  prcsont,  at  others  jiiuch 
slower,  and  it  would  be  scarcely  possible  to  decide  whe- 
ther it>;  averaije  prog-re.-s  has  been  more  or  less  rapid 
than  now. 

Unfortunately  our  historical  evidence  of  the  former 
condition  of  the  cataract  is  meag-re  and  scanty  in  the 
extreme.  Sixty  years  ago,  the  whole  district  between 
liakes  Erie  and  Ontario  was  a  wilderiiess  in  which  the 
Indian  hunter  chased  the  bear  and  the  buffalo.  When 
at  Boston,  my  attention  was  called  by  Mr.  Ingraham  to 
a  work  translated  from  the  orii^^inal  French  of  Father 
Hennepin,  a  missionary  who  gave  a  description  of  the 
grajid  cataract  and  a  plate  of  if,  as  it  appeared  in  the 
year  lo73.  It  is  not  wonderful  that  coming"  suddenly 
U])Vi\  tile  Falls  whi.:h  no  FiUropean  traveller  had  ever 
seen  hef ):!\  be  should  have  believed  them  to  be  tv.'ice 
tlu>ir  re:il  heipiht.  '•  Fetwixt  the  lakes  Ontario  and 
Fri;'.'"  be  says,  "there  is  a  vast  and  prodigious  cadence 
of  w  Tt'T,  which  fa!:s  after  an  astonishing-  manner,  inso- 
uv.i:\\  (!iit  the  universe  doe^  not  a'Tonl  its  parallel.  A? 
t)  tlio  waters  of  {{a.!y  and  Swedelan  1,  they  are  l;ut 
sorry  p.ilf(!rn-  orif,nivl  tliis  woiidiM  lid  do'.vnfdi  is  coni- 
n  Minded  of  two  gToaf  falls,  with  an  i-le  in  the  niiddl'^, 
a;j  1  there  is  anotiier  cascade  less  than  tlie  other  two 
which  fills  fi;Mn  vest  to  east.  I  wislied  a  hundred 
tini.'s  ihal,  snin.^i)o:iy  had  been  with  us,  who  could  have 
(!escri;)c1  tlie  v.'onders  of  this  fri?;;htrul  fall.  In  the 
mean  time,  acc:'pt  the  followiu'i  draught  such  as  it 
i.-.'" — !  "rom  his  plate  it  appears  that  tliis  third  cascnde 
wa-  pi">hi:';>  !  'iv  v.,Ii;it  h."  f'nns  '-tlie  elbow"' ca  us 'd  by 
the  p;- )/.v.-ti  ,'n  tf  {;:e  table  ioj'c,  wliich  musL  then  ha\e 
been  more  proniineat  than  now. 


1 

I 


i 


I 


II' 


Chap.  ii. 


KALM  S    DESCRIPTION'. 


20 


Idealy 

i 

I  ever 

'i 

:  twice 

1 

")   and 

•1 

dcncc 

.  inso- 

't'. 

!.    A? 

e    l:llt 

cnni- 

li'klln, 

'i^ 

r  two 

iM 

ndred 

m 

Iiave 

1  the 

r'-. 

CIS  it 

'i 

* 

-;c;ulc 

» 

'd  Uy 

JiM 

hji\  e 

Seventy-throe  years  iirtt'rwar.l.;,  or  in  1751,  a  letlor 
was  j);ih..-hv\l  ill  liie  nt;;.liiMU.iii"s  ..;ai^;.auc  iw  tl.at 
\i'.d  I)','  ivaliii.  tiiO  K'W^  .i-ili  ij:n,  i-t.  oa  t..^;  i  aii.^  oi 
>.Li^"ai\i.  ilii  des,.Ti|aioa  i-  ai^o  iliU.~u\.Lcd  l)y  a  })...tc, 
i;i  Vv'iii'h  tiic  |)i"(»-)uili  )ii.d  heij^hl  aa  i  bre;ullii  oi  ihe 
\'\vw.<  ail'  lmm'ji  la  )i\'  L'orrocLly.  'I'he  le.-.-.-r  1*  all  oa  n.e 
icil  b.ai!-:  of  tin;  river  is  oaiiit.'d  ;  but  at  the  pLu-e 
wiivic  it  ha  1  bi'cii  rej)r.'seatr:l  ia  i'atlier  Ileaaepiiro 
sketch,  Kaha  iiiseiLs  the  letter  "  r/,"'  ref.Miia^'  tj  a  a  Ue 
ia  w!ii:h  In;  say?!,  ••  Here  the  water  wan  r.uah'riy  Ux:x\  1 
out  ot  its  iiiri',-l  eoarrie  by  a  pr  );ejtiaL^  rojk.  whicli  wlica 
.<!  a)  lia-^  turaed  the  water  o/l  o'td  ju.-iy  acro.^ri  tia;  athcr 
Fall/' 

'V\\:-  observation  coid'nias  the  reality  ol'  ileaaepia's 
obli  jue  cascade,  and  shows  that  .-oaie  waste  had  bcuai 
UT'Majr  orj  ia  tht!  iaterin^diate  seveat\'-thrt'e  years,  laa- 
ki.ig'  a  vi-;il)le  altorati  )a  ia  tiie  scene,  aa  1  La  lia  ;•  as  t.;i 
iaier  that  the  rjclcs  have  been  su.ieiiag  coaliau  d  di- 
laphlatioa  lor  aiore  than  the  last  century  and  a  iiail'. 

1:1  the  r.b^eace  of  ai  )re  aai;)lu  historical  data,  we  arc 
f.irluaately  not  without  geoljgical  evi.lence  of  the  lar- 
ara-  existeace  of  a  chaaael  oi  the  Niagara  at  a  amch 
higher  level,  bi^'^re  the  tabk>laa;l  was  intersected  by 
t!ie  great  raviae.  Long  belbre  lay  visit  to  tlie  Niagara, 
1  had  beea  iataraied  of  the  existeace  oa  (Joat  Iskuil  ol' 
be. Is  ol'  gravel  aad  sand  containing  lluviatile  shells,  and 
f^oiae  accouat  had  been  given  of  these   by  Mr.  Hall  in 


hi^  fust  report  in  1839;  I  therefore 


that 


■1, 


dd 


pro| 


)osed  to  hiiti 


ikl  ( 


couiu  trace  any  n 


we  slioukl  examine  these  carefully,  and  sec  if  we 
nnants  of  the  same  along  the  eJges 
of  t!ie  rivcr-clids  below  the  Falls.  We  Ix^gan  by  coi- 
leciing  in  Goat  Island  siiells  of  the  genera  UnJo^  Cy- 
cla.s'.  Mclaiiia.    Valvaia,  Limnea,   PUuiorbis,   and 


.i  .  il 


I'i  ' 


.  f  ■       |-   ■ 

I   ' 


I'I. 


^11 


l!  >■ 


11': 


30 


UEMXANT    01"    A.V    Ol.n    KIVER-EKD. 


ClIAP.    II 


//  //'.?;,  nil  of  rofont  sp<'ci(v-'.  in  the  yiipcilicial  deposit. 
'lMi>'y  !',)riu  i('[2n!.u'  Iv.y.U.  oud  iminorous  individuals  of 
flic  (J/iio  i\ii\  Ct/clas  Iiave  botli  their  valves  united. 
\V(;  then  found  the  same  formation  exactly  opposite  to 

F\r.    1. 

E:ist.  West, 


flifli''/ i:  II    -- 


E  I 


!  I 


.S 


Section  at  J^iagara  Falls, 

L.  Liiiio  to-K!  8!)  ffiit  thick.    f».  Sliale  80  foet  thick. 

d.   I're-hvv  't  t  -^triti  mi  Coat  I->!;in(l,  jiliove  20  Iwt  ihick. 

d  .  SaiiiO  loriintioii  on  the  American  side,  rontuining  bones  of  Mastodon. 

c.    L'-iif; !  of  li  ire  limestone  on  the  Canada  side, 

/.    Ancient  drift, 

the  Falls  on  the  top  of  the  cliff  (at  d',  fig.  1.)  on  the 
American  side,  wlicre  two  river- terraces,  one  twelve 
and  tiie  other  twenty-four  feet  above  the  Niagara,  have 
been  cut  in  the  modern  deposits.  In  these  we  ohserved 
the  same  fossil  shells  as  in  Goat  Island,  and  learnt  that 
the  teeth  and  other  remains  of  a  mastodon,  some  of 
which  were  shown  us,  had  been  found  thirteen  feet  be- 
low the  surface  of  the  soil.  We  were  tlien  taken  by 
our  guide  to  a  spot  farther  north,  where  similar  gravel 
and  sand  with  fluviatile  shells  occurred  near  the  edge 
of  the  cliir  overhanging  the  ravine,  resting  on  the  solid 
limestone.  It  was  about  half  a  mile  below  the  prin- 
cipal Fall;  and  extended  at  some  points  300  yards  in- 
land, but  no  farther,  for  it  was  then  bounded  by  the 
bank  of  more  ancient  drift  (/,  fig.  1.),  This  deposit  pre- 
cisely occupies  the  place  whicli  ihe  ancient  bed  and  al- 
luvial plain  of  the  Niagara  would  naturally  have  filled, 


* 


■"Hi 


Chap,  ii 

m 

deposit. 

1 

Jualrf  of 

J 

united. 

1 

poriite  to 

1 

West. 

1 

fa 
loo 

e    y^" 

1 

^. — 

■'S 

S 

^ 

i 

Chap,  ii 


IN    GOAT     ISLAND. 


31 


astodori. 


on  the 

f 

twch'c 

i 

la,  have 

>bserved 

■: 

rnt  that 

onic  of 

feet  ])e- 

ken  by 
gravel 

-1 

le  edge 
solid 


lie 
le  piin- 
irds  in- 
)y  the 
)sit  pre- 
and  al- 
e  filled, 


if  the  river  once  extended  larther  northwards,  at  a  level 
sullkiently  high  to  cover  the  greater  part  of  Goat  Is- 
land. At  that  period  the  ravine  could  not  have  ex- 
isted, and  there  must  have  been  a  harrier,  several  niilen 
lower  down,  at  or  near  the  whirlpool. 

Fitj.  2. 


North. 


ftouth. 


-^-^^ 


Section  of  Onat  Island  from  J^'orth  to  South,  ^00  feet  in  length. 

A.  Mi*-ivr  (;niii|nrt  i)(>rti'>'i  of  thf  N'iiB-ir»  rim'^'t'>ne. 

H.  rpirr  thin  Ii  .McI  [lort  tr.i  of  the  Ni  igir.i  limestone,  strata  slightly  inclined  to 

lilC  S  .Mill. 

c    Ilnri/.oiit  I  fr-'-ituv'tfr  h-d  ••  "f  trnvol.  sand,  and  ioim,  with  shells. 
1),  K.  I'le^tjiit  Miff  ICO  of  thL'  river  Niagara  at  the  R.ipids. 

TIio  supposed  original  channel,  through  which  the 
waters  (l;nved  from  Lake  Erie  to  Queenston  or  Lewis- 
ton,  was  excavated  chielly,  but  not  entiiely,  in  the  su- 
perficial drifl,  and  the  old  river-banks  cut  in  this  drii't 
ai'e  still  to  be  seen  facing  each  other,  on  both  side?-  of 
the  ravine,  for  many  miles  Ik;Iow  the  Falls.  A  .section 
of  Goat  Island  from  south  to  north,  or  parallel  to  the 
coui'se  of  (he  Niagara  (see  fig.  2.),  siiows  that  the 
limestone  (B)  had  been  greatly  denuded  befoie  the  flu- 
viatile  beds  (c)  were  accumulated,  and  consequently 
when  the  Falls  were  still  several  miles  below  their  pres- 
ent site.  From  this  fact  I  infer  that  the  slope  of  the 
river  at  the  lapids  was  principally  due  to  the  original 
shape  of  tlie  old  channel,  and  not,  as  some  have  con- 
jectured, to  modern  erosions  on  the  approach  of  the 
Falls  to  the  spot. 


II 


A     'J 


<■'( 


i 


i;!     :;i 


32 


ANCIKNT    FLUVIATILE. 


Chap,  ii 


The  observations  made  in  1811  induced  mo  in  the 
following  year  (June,  1S12)  to  re-examine  diligently 
both  sides  of  the  river  from  tiie  I'alls  to  Lewi.-ton  ai.d 
Ciueeniton,  to  ascertain  if  any  otlier  patclies  of  the  an- 
cient river-bed  had  escaped  destruction.  Accoriliiigly, 
foUowini)^  Hrst  the  edije  of  tlie  cHlls  on  the  ea^tc^n 
bank,  I  discovered,  with  no  small  delight,  at  the  sum- 
mer-house (E,  tig.  3.),  above  the  whirlpool,  a  bed  of 


Fig.  3. 


i^ 


v»  _  ■-■' 


^^£1^-^-- 


Section  at  the  Summer-hovsc  ahove  ff'/u'rfpool,  enst  hank  vj  J^Ttoffara. 

A.  Thick-liedded  liincstdnc,  same  as  ul  Tiills. 

b.  Ancient  drift. 

c.  Roiilder-i  nt  i)T5e  of  stof'p  hTnk  finned  liy  drift. 

d.  Fi-o'^hwntpr  -^tratii  forty  ff^et  tliick. 
E   Siimmer-houje. 

Stratified  sand  and  gravel,  forty  feet  thick,  containing 
fluviatile  shells  in  abundance.  Fortunately,  a  few 
yards  from  the  summer-house  a  pit  had  been  recently 
dug  for  the  cellar  of  a  new  house  to  the  depth  of  nine 
feet  in  the  shelly  sand,  in  which  I  found  shells  of  the 
genera  U/iio,  Ci/clas,  Melania,  Helix,  and  Pupn,  not 
only  identical  i\  species  with  those  which  occur  in  a 
fresh  state  in  the  bed  of  the  Niagara,  near  the  ferry, 


I 


f 


n,i 


Chap,  ji 


IIAP.   II. 


DcrosiT  ^vI■l^   shells. 


10  ill  tlte 

ililigt'utly 
istou  ai.il 
)!'  i\w.  aii- 
:ui\!iiigly, 
;  eastern 
llie  8U1U- 
a  bed  of 


ffara. 


1  taming 
a  (aw 
eceiilly 
of  nine 
?  of  the 
/)o,  not 
ir  in  a 
e  ferry, 


but  correspuuling  al.^^o  in  tlie  p-i!  p  )rti»;ii;M(;  numhrr  of 


IIK 


livitliuils  hrionuiii'''  t')  each 


'M'A-.u: 


t.ic 


vaiv( 


,f 


Cijclas  ,\i/ifHis,  lor  example.  In  inir  ll;;*  most  nmncrons 
Tlie  ?:ame  year  1  found  also  a  remnant  of  liie  old  river- 
bed on  tlie  opposite  or  Canadian  nide  of  ihc  river,  about 
a  mile  and  a  ]»a!f  above  tiie  whirlpool,  or  (wo  mile:^ 
ami  a  hall  below  the  Falls.  These  facts  appear  con- 
clusive as  to  th''  former  extension  of  a  more  elevated 
valley,  four  mil(;.<,  at  least,  below  liic  J^'alls ;  and  at  this 


poll 


it  tlie  old  river-bed  must  Have  been  so  liijili  as  to  be 


capabl(>  of  holding'  back  the  waters  which  covered  all 
the  |)atches  of  lluviatile  sand  and  gravel,  including'  (hat 
of  Cioat  Island.  As  the  tal)le-land  or  limestone-plat  tbrni 
rises  gently  to  the  north,  and  is  iiig'hest  near  Uuecnston, 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  ihere  was  a  greater 
fall  in  the  Niagara  when  it  llowed  at  its  higher  level, 
than  now  between  Laki^  Erie  and  the  Falls  :  and  ac- 
cording" to  this  view,  (he  old  cliannel  might  well  have 
furnished  the  refjuired  barrier. 

I  have  stated  that  on  the  left,  or  Fanadian  bank  of 
the  Niagara,  below  the  l'\nlls,  1  succ(.'eded  in  detectinn' 
sand  with  freshwater  shells  at  one  poii.t  only,  near  the 
mouth  of  tlie  muddy  river.  'V\\('  led^e  of  limestone 
on  this  side  is  usually  laid  bare,  or  only  covered  by  ve- 
g-ctable  mould  (as  at  c.  iig.  1.),  until  we  arrive  at  the 
boulder  clay  ( /'.  fie:.  l.\  which  is  sometimes  within  a 
few  3ards  of  the  top  of  the  precipice,  and  sometimes 
again  retires  eighty  yards  or  more  from  it,  being  from 
twenty  to  fifty  feet  in  height.  I  also  found  an  old 
river-bed  running  through  the  drift  parallel  to  the  Ni- 
agara, its  course  still  marked  by  swamj^s  and  ponds,  sueh 
as  we  IJnd  in  all  alluvial  plains,  and  only  remarkable 
here  Lecausc  the  river  now  runs  at  a  lower  \c\v.\  by  300 


1 1 


*ul 


m 


34 


RECESSION    OF    THE 


Chap.  ii. 


;:i' 


iH  !  t/ 


iHir, 


il 


M 


!  'ir 


pif 


feet.    Tills  (>.;sortc:l  cliamicl  occurs  hctATcn  tlie  Muddy 
River  and  tho  Wliirlpo)!,  and  is  100  yards  broad. 

There  is  also  a  notcli  or  indentation,  called  the 
•'  Devil's  Jlole,"  on  the  right  or  eastern  side  of  the  Ni- 
agara, half  a  mile  jjelow  the  Whirlpool,  which  deserves 
not-ice,  for  there,  I  think,  there  are  signs  of  the  Great 
Cataract  having  been  once  situated.  A  small  stream- 
let, called  tlic  "  IJIoody  Run,"  from  a  battle  fought 
thero  with  the  Indians,  joins  tiie  Niagara  at  this  place, 
and  has  hollowed  out  a  lateral  chasm.  Ascending  the 
great  ravine,  we  here  see,  facing  us,  a  projecting  clitf 
of  liinjstone,  which  stands  out  forty  feet  beyond  the 
general  range  of  the  river  clilf  below,  and  has  its  Hat 
summit  bare  and  without  soil,  just  as  if  it  had  once 
formed  the  eastern  side  of  the  Great  Fall. 

By  exploring  the  l)anks  of  the  Niagara  above  the 
Falls,  I  satisfied  myself  that  if  the  river  should  contiiiue 
to  cut  back  the  ravine  still  farther  southwards,  it  would 
leave  hen;  and  there,  near  the  verge  of  the  precipice 
and  on  its  islands,  strata  of  sand  and  loam,  A\ith  fresh- 
water shells  similar  to  those  already  described.  1  col- 
lected lussil  shell.-,  f,)r  example,  on  the  left  bank,  near 
the  Chipj)ewa  River,  and  learnt  that  otluns  had  l)cen 
reached,  in  sinking  a  w<'!l,  in  ISIS,  at  the  south-east 
end  of  Grand  Island.  The  situation  of  such  deposits 
is  rej^resented  at  a,  a  (lig.  J..,  p.  37.). 

The  patches  of  lluviatile  strata,  therefore,  occurring 
lietween  the  old  ijaiiks  of  drift  (/,  /,  fig.  1.,  p.  30.)  and 
the  precipice,  and  not  having  been  met  with  on  other 
parts  of  the  platform  at  a  distance  from  the  Niagara, 
coiifiDu  the  theory,  previously  adopted  on  independent 
evidenco,  of  the  recession  of  the  Falls  from  Queenston 
southwards.  The  narrowness  of  the  gorge  near  Queens- 


f 


t 


€ 


1 


I 
I 


M 


Chap.  n. 


CnAr.  II. 


FALLS    OF    NIAGARA. 


35 


lu;  Muddy 
road. 

called    the 

of  the  Ni- 

li  deserves 

the  Great 

II  stream- 

le   fought 

his  place. 

ad'mg  tlie 

ting  cHff 
yond  the 

1 

s  its  flat 

lad  once 

A' 

l)ove  the 

'M 

contiiuie 

it  would 

... 

pivcipice 
th  fiesh- 

.     I  col- 

lie, near 

• 

ad  l)ceij 

iKJi-casr 

deposits 

i| 

'(nirrinsf 

.a; 

50.)  and 

i 

n  other 

i 

ingara, 

§ 

)ondent 

m 

'cnston 

■? 

tueens- 

A 

ton,  wliere  it  is  just  large  enough  to  contain  the  rapid 
current  of  water,  accords  well  with  the  same  hypotheses, 
and  tliere  is  no  ground  for  suspecting  that  the  excavation 
was  assisted  by  an  original  rent  in  the  rocks,  because 
there  is  no  fissure  at  present  in  the  limestone  at  the 
Falls,  where  the  moving  waters  alone  have  power  tc 
cut  their  way  backwards. 

I  have  already  remarked  that  there  will  always  be 
insuperable  didiculties  in  the  way  of  estimating  with 
precision  the  rate  of  the  retrogression  of  the  Falls  in 
former  ages,  because  at  every  step  new  strata  have  l)een 
successively  exposed  at  the  base  of  the  precipice.  Ac- 
cording to  their  softer  or  harder  nature,  the  undermin- 
ing process  must  have  been  accelerated  or  retarded. 
This  will  be  understood  by  reference  to  the  annexed 
section  (fig.  4.),  where  the  line  b,  c,  d,  represents  the 
present  surface  of  the  river  along  which  the  Falls  have 
receded.  The  strata  (1,  3,  and  7,)  are  of  soft  materials: 
the  others,  (2,  4,  and  8),  which  slightly  project  at  their 
termination  in  the  escarpment,  are  of  a  more  compact 
and  refractory  kind.  It  has  iK-eii  necessary  to  exag-- 
gerate  the  southward  dip  of  the  strata  in  this  diagram, 
wdiich  is  ill  roali'  v  so  slight  as  to  be  insensible  to  the 
eye,  being  only,  as  before  mentioned,  about  twenty-five 
feet  in  a  mile,  the  river  channel  sloping  in  an  opposite 
direction  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  feet  iu  a  imile.  These 
two  inclinations,  taken  together,  have  caused,  as  Mr, 
Hall  has  pointed  out  in  his  Survey,  a  diminution  of 
forty  f^et  in  the  perpendicular  height  of  tlie  Falls  for 
eveiy  mile  that  they  receded  southward.  By  reference 
to  the  section,  the  reader  will  perceive  that  when  they 
were  situated  at  the  Whirlpool  (c),  the  quartzose  sand- 
stone (2),  which  is  extremely  hard,  was  at  the  b^se  of 


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tin;  j)r('cipic*o,  and  lioro  tlm  (in^:it  Calnract  inn}-  liavo 
rciuaincd  nciirly  statioiuiry  ior  a<ios. 

la  rcu-ard  to  tlio  Intiur  r/troccs^Ion  of  llic  Falls,  it 
will  be  perceived  by  lln-  same  seclioa  ( liiT-  !•;.  ibat  when 
llie\  have  Iravelled  back  two  inile.-.  or  i'»  /,  /.',  ilie  mas- 
sive liiiiesloiie  (SK  now  at  tlie  top  of  tlio  l''alls,  will 
then  be  al  their  ba.se;  and  its  eroat  hardness  may, 
perhaps,  elll-eiiially  stop  the  excavalinir"  |H-ocess,  if  it 
shoidd  not  have  been  previously  arrested  by  the  descent 
of  huii'e  masses  of  the  same  rock  from  (he  clill"  above 
It  will  also  aj)!K'ar  that  the  Falls  will  continnally  di- 
minish in  heiijht,  and  should  they  over  reach  Lake 
Erie,  they  will  intersect  entirely  dill'erent  straia  from 
those  o\er  which  they  aic  now  thrown. 

The  next  imiuiiy  into  which  we  are  naturally  led 
bv  our  retrispect  into  the  inst  hi-torv  of  this  ret2"ion, 
relafes  to  th(.'  (iri^in  of  the  Falls.  If  they  were  once 
se\'eii  miles  ii;iriliwai"d  of  tiicir  pre.-ent  si!(\  in  what 
manner.  iMid  at  what  geological  j-eiiod,  (hd  (iiey  lirst 
come  into  exl-ience  .'  Tn  trr..'i;i^'  iiack  the  >ei"i(  s  of  p.ist 
event-',  w*:  ii;'.\e  nh'ca.ly  seen  (bat  the  last  ciiann'e  was 
the  eiosion  of  the  i^reat  ravine;  pre\  iousiy  to  which  o<'- 
curred  th;;  ',!epo>ifi'.)n  ol'  the  freshwater  deposit,  including 
fo.--iI  shells  of  i-ece!it  ^pecies,  and  the  bones  of  the  ]Mas- 
lodon.  'i'biidly,  of  siili  older  date  was  the  drift  or 
boulder  f,!:itiation  which  overspreads  the  whole  j)latform 
and  the  face  of  the  <>scarpment  near  Queenston,  as  well 
as  the  low  country  between  it  and  Fake  Ontario. 
Foiulbly.  the  denudation  of  the  line  of  clill'  or  escarp- 
ment, in  which  the  table-land  ends  al>ruptly,  prececlcd 
tbiC  origin  of  the  drift.  I  sliall  endeavour  to  show,  in  a 
fcubse(|uent  chapter,  when  speaking  of  Canada,  that 
thid  drift  was  of  marine  origin,  and  formed  when  the 


liij 


'^-    >! 


38 


ORIGIN    OF    THE    FALLS. 


CilAP.   II. 


il: 


||,ir..:i 


i!    r 


whole  country  was  su!i'.nor^-o:l  l)on(*nt.h  tlio  sea.  In  the 
region  of  tluj  Mai,^ira  it  is  strntilit'tl.  and  tlioui^li  no 
fossils  have  as  ycl  Ixmmi  detected  in  it,  similar  deposits 
occur  in  the  valley  of  the  .St.  liawrencc;  at  Montreal,  at 
a  heii^lit  ni^arly  ei|ual  to  I,ak'e  Iwii*,  where  fossil  shells, 
of  species  such  as  now  iidiabit  the  northern  sea-=,  lie 
buried  in  the  drift. 

It  is  almost  superlluous  to  aflfirm  that  a  consitleration 
of  the  {^eoloixv  of  the  whole  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  the  great  lakes  can  alone  eniitle  us  to  speculate  on 
the  state  of  things  which  immediately  preceded  or  ac- 
companiel  the  origin  of  the  (Ireat  (.'ataract.  To  give 
even  a  brief  sketch  of  the  various  phenomena  to  wbich 
our  attenllDU  mu?t  be  direcle  1,  in  order  to  solve  this  cu- 
rious problem,  would  retpiire  a  digression  of  several 
chapters.  At  present  the  shortest  and  most  intelligible 
way  of  explaining  the  results  of  my  o!)servations  and 
reilections  on  this  subject  will  be  to  describe  the  succes- 
sive changes  in  the  order  in  which  I  imagine  tlieni  to 
have  happened.  Tbc  first  event  then  to  which  we 
must  recur  is  the  superficial  waste  or  denudation  of  the 
jlder  stratified  rocks  (from  1  to  10  inclusive,  section, 
fig.  1.,  p.  37.),  aH  of  which  had  remained  nearly  undis- 
turbe.l  and  ]j  jrizontal  from  the  era  of  tiieir  formation 
beneath  thy  sea  to  a  comparatively  modern  period. 
That  they  v.ere  all  of  marine  origin  is  proved  by  their 
imbedded  corals  and  shells.  They  at  length  emerged 
slowly,  and  portions  of  their  edges  were  removed  by  the 
action  of  the  waves  and  currents,  by  wdiich  cUirs  were 
formed  at  successive  heights,  especially  where  hard 
limestones  (such  as  Nos.  10  and  8,  fig.  4.)  at  Blackrock 
and  Lewiston,  were  incumbent  on  soft  shales.  After 
this  denudation  the  whole  region  was  again  gradually 


i 


1) 


^1 


Hi. 


Chap.  ii. 


ORIGIX    OF    Tin:    FALLS. 


3d 


i 


sul)nicr<,^c(l,  ;m)(1  tlii>  event,  look  place  ilmini,'  llic  i^huinl 
pcii(K),  at  wliicli  time  llie  siiil ace.s  of  flu?  rocks  aln.'udy 
demuleil  were  smootlicd,  |);)l4.slie(l,  and  lunowcd  hy 
glacial  action,  which  operated  r^ucce.ssively  at  dillerent 
levels.  The  country  was  then  hurled  under  a  load  of 
straliiicd  and  unstratilied  sand,  j^iavel,  and  erratic 
blocks,  occasionally  S'>,  and  in  some  hollows  more  than 
300,  feet  deep.  An  okl  ravijie  terminating-  at  St.  Da- 
vid's, which  intersects  the  limestone  platform  of  the 
Niagara,  and  opens  into  the  great  escar|)ment,  illus- 
trates the  posteriority  of  this  drift  to  the  epoch  when 
the  older  rocks  were  denuded.  The  period  of  submer- 
gence last  alluded  to  was  very  modern,  for  the  shells  then 
inhabiting  the  ocean  belonged,  almost  without  excep- 
tion, to  sp;'cie3  still  living  in  high  northern,  and  some 
of  them  in  temperate,  latitudes.  The  n(\\t  great 
change  was  the  re-emergence  of  this  country,  consist- 
ing of  the  ancient  denuded  rocks,  covered  indiscrimi- 
nately with  mi)dern  marine  drift.  The  upward  move- 
ment by  which  this  was  accom[)lishe(l  was  not  sudden 
and  instantaneous,  but  gradual  and  intermittent.  Tlie 
pauses  by  which  it  was  interrupted  are  marked  by  an- 
cient beach-lines,  ridges,  and  terraces-,  found  at  dillei-ent 
heights  above  the  present  lakes.  These  ridges  and 
terraces  are  partly  due  to  the  deiuidation  ajid  re-ar- 
rangement of  the  materials  of  the  drift  itself,  which 
had  previously  been  deposited  on  tin;  platform,  the  slo- 
ping face  of  the  escarpments,  and  in  the  basins  of  the 
great  lakes. 

As  soon  as  the  table-land  between  Lakes  Erie  and 
Ontario  emerged  and  was  laid  dry,  the  river  Niagara 
came  into  existence,  the  basin  of  Lake  Ontario  still  con- 
tinuing to  forni  part  of  the  sea.     From  that  moment 


1 


40 


REFLECTIONS    OX    THE 


Chap,  rt 


u 


<4 

# 

# 


nil' 

v 


ll 


I  !V  „    ■  l: 


tliero  was  a  casradd  at  QuociistoM  of  iiiuderatc  hciglit, 
wliich  Tell  (lircclly  into  the  r-ca.     'I'lic  uppcniiosl  liiiic- 
stuiie  and  strnjaccnt  slate  (S  and  7.  lig,  4.  p.  37.)  Ijcing 
oxposii'd.  lii(^  cataract  connnonced  its  retrograde  cour?^e, 
wid'.e  (lie  lower  beds  in  flie  e^jcarpnient  (from  0  to  1) 
WiMe  still  jnotecied  from  wasie  hy  remaining sulimerged. 
A  s'.M-ond  fall  woidd  in  due  time  be  caused  b}'  tbie  con- 
liiuied   rise  of  the  land  and  the  exposure   of  the  liard 
beds  (u  and  i),  constituting  what  is  called  the  Clinton 
group,  together  with  the  soft  and  easily  undermined 
red  shale  (3),  on  whicii  tliey  repose.     Finally,  a  third 
cascade  would  in  all  likelihood  be  produced  by  the  rise 
of  another  hard  mass,  the  (juartzose  sandstone  (2,  fig.  1.) 
resting  ou  very  destructible  red  shale  (1).     '^rhrec  falls, 
one   above  the  other,  very  similar  in  their  geological 
and  geographical  position  to  those  actually  seen  on  the 
river  Genesee  at  Kochester,  would  thus  be  formed.    The 
recession  of  the  up}>ermost  must  have  been  gradually  re- 
tarded by  the  thickening  of  the  incumbent  hmestone 
(No.  8,  fig.  4),  in  proportion  as   the  Falls  sawed  their 
way  southwards.     By  this  means  the  second  cataract, 
which   would  not  suller  the  same   retardation,  might 
overtake  if,  and  the  two  united  would  then  be  rctrirvled 
by  the  large  ([uantity  of  rock  to  be  removetl,  until  the 
lowest  fall  would  come  up  to  them,  and  then  the  whole 
would  be  united  into  one. 

The  principal  events  enumerated  in  the  above  ret- 
rospect, comprising  t!ie  submergence  and  re-emer- 
gence of  the  Canadian  lake  district  and  valley  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  the  deposition  of  freshwater  strata,  and 
the  gradual  erosion  of  a  ravine  seven  mile.s  long,  arc 
all  so  modern  in  the  earth's  history  as  to  belong  to  a 
period  when  tlie  marine  the  fluviatile,  and  terrestrial 


CilAP.  II. 


LAPSE    OP    PAST    TIME. 


41 


:M 


slic'lls,  were  the  same,  or  nearly  the  same,  as  tho^-e  now 
living.  Vet  if  we  fix  our  t!ioii.>hls  o;i  any  one  pjrtion  of 
thisperio:] — on  the  lai)se  of  thne,  for  cxanijjlA',  ie(|!i:ri'd 
f  )!•  tlio  recession  of  tlic  Niagara  tVom  the  escarpiueut  to 
liie  Falls,— !io\v  inniieasiirably  great  will  its  dmalion 
appear  in  coinp.ui--  )n  with  the  sum  of  years  ta  w  hich 
the  amials  of  tlie  human  race  are  liiniteil  !  Had  we 
happeneil  to  discover  strata,  charged  wilh  lluviatile 
shells  of  recent  species,  and  enclosing  the  bones  and 
teeth  of  a  Mastodon,  near  a  river  at  the  bollom  of  some 
valley,  we  might  naturally  have  inferred  that  lite  bu- 
ried ([uadruped  liad  perished  at  an  era  long  aftt.-r  the 
canoes  of  the  Indian  hunter  had  navigated  the  rsorth 
American  waters.  Sucli  an  inference  might  easily 
have  been  drawn  respecting  the  fossil  tusk  of  the  great 
elephantine  (juadruped,  which  I  saw  taken  out  of  tiie 
shell-marl  on  the  banks  of  the  Genesee  River  near  Ro- 
chester (sec  p.  10.).  But  fortunately  on  the  Niagara, 
we  may  turn  to  the  deep  ravine,  and  behold  therein  a 
chronometer  measuring  rudely,  yet  empliatically,  the 
vast  magnitude  of  the  interval  of  years,  which  sepa- 
rate the  present  time  from  the  epoch  when  the  Niagara 
flowed  at  a  higlier  level  several  miles  further  jiortli 
across  the  platl()rm.  We  then  become  conscious  Jiov/ 
far  the  two  events  before  confounded  together, — the;  en- 
tombment of  the  ^Mastodon,  and  the  date  of  the  first 
peopling  of  the  earth  by  man, — may  recede  to  dis- 
tances almost  hidefinitely  remote  from  each  other. 

But.  however  much  we  may  enlarge  our  ideas  of 
the  time  whicli  has  elapsed  since  the  Niagara  lirst  be- 
gan to  drain  the  waters  of  tlie  upper  lakes,  we  have 
seen  that  this  period  was  one  only  of  a  series,  all  be- 
longing to  the  present  zoological  epoch  ;  or  tha  t  in  which 

4* 


'!.i; 


'1 1 


42 


llEFLKCTIOXS    ON   THE 


Chap.  ii. 


ii|i  11) 


!       '■ 


I-   ■' 


II 


!  i.: 


il: 


Ih 


I, 


If'  'I 


.(  .; 


■ 


tlin  Jiviiigf  testaceou?!  faunn,  wliether  frcsluvatcr  or  ma- 
liiif,  li:nl  airjudy  come  into  being".  If  sucli  cv(mU.s  can 
take  |)!ace  while  the  zoology  of  the  eailli  remains  al- 
most, stationary  and  imaltcretl,  wiiat  ages  may  not  be 
compreliendetl  in  those  successive  tertiary  periods  du- 
ring" which  the  t'lora  and  Fauna  of  the  globe  have 
been  ahnos',  entirely  clianii^ed  !  Yet  how  subordinate  a 
place  in  tiie  long  calendar  of  geological  chronology  dc 
the  succes.ive  tertiary  periods  themselves  occupy ! 
How  much  more  enormous  a  duration  nnist  we  assi.in 
t'j  many  antecedent  revolutions  of  the  earth  and  its  in- 
habitants !  i\'o  analogy  can  be  found  in  the  natural 
world  to  the  immense  scale  of  these  divisions  of  past 
time,  unless  we  contemplate  the  celestial  spaces  which 
have  been  measured  by  the  astronomer.  Some  of  the 
nearest  of  these  within  the  limits  of  the  solar  syste.n, 
as,  for  example,  the  orbits  of  the  planets,  are  reckoned 
by  Imndreds  of  millions  of  miles,  which  the  imagina- 
tion in  vain  endeavours  to  grasp.  Yet  one  of  these 
spaces,  such  as  the  diameter  of  the  earth's  orbit,  is  re- 
garded as  a  mere  unit,  a  mere  infinitesimal  fraction  of 
the  distance  which  separates  our  sun  from  the  nearest 
star.  By  pursuing  still  farther  the  same  investigations, 
we  learn  that  there  are  luminous  clouds  scarcely  distin- 
guishable by  the  naked  eye,  but  resolvable  by  the  tel- 
escope into  clusters  of  stars,  which  are  so  much  more 
remote,  that  the  interval  between  our  sun  and  Sirius 
may  be  but  a  fracticn  of  tliis  larger  distance.  To  re- 
gions of  space  of  this  higher  ordtu"  in  point  of  magru- 
tude,  we  may  probably  compare  such  an  interval  of 
time  as  that  which  divides  the  human  epoch  from  the 
origin  of  the  coralline  Umestone  over  which  the  Niagara 
is  precipitated  at  the  Falls.     Many  have  been  the  sue- 


Chap.  ii. 


Chap.  ii. 


LAPSE    OF    PAST    TIME. 


43 


ir  or  ma- 
cnts  can 
lains  al- 
y  not  l}e 
riods  du- 
be   liave 
•dinatc  a 
ology  dc 
occupy  ! 
e  assi^^n 
1(1  its  in- 
'  naliiral 
!  of  past 
s  wliicli 
le  of  the 
systc.ii, 
eckoned 
inagina- 
of  these 
it,  is  le- 
ction of 
nearest 
gat  ions, 
y  distin- 
the  tel- 
:h  more 
d  Siiiiia 
To  re- 
inagiii- 
rvai  of 
om  the 
Slagara 
he  suc- 


cessive revoUitioiis  in  organic  life,  and  many  tlie  vicis- 
situdes in  the  physical  gcograpiiy  of  the  glolo,  and 
often  has  sea  been  converted  into  land,  and  land  into 
sea,  since  that  rock  was  formed,  ^riic  Alp.--,  the  Pyre- 
nees, the  Himalaya,  have  not  only  begun  to  exist  as  lofty 
mountain  chains,  but  the  solid  materials  of  v%"hich  they 
are  composed  have  been  slowly  elaborated  beneath  the 
sea  within  the  stupendous  interval  of  ages  here  al- 
luded to. 

The  geologist  may  muse  and  speculate  on  these 
events  until,  filled  with  awe  and  admiration,  he  forgets 
the  presence  of  the  mighty  cataract  itself,  and  no  long- 
er sees  the  rapid  motion  of  its  waters,  nor  hears  their 
sound,  as  they  fall  into  the  deep  abyss.  But  whenever 
his  thoughts  are  recalled  to  the  present,  the  tone  of  his 
mind, — the  sensations  awakened  in  his  soul,  will  be 
found  to  be  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  grandeur  and 
beauty  of  the  glorious  scene  which  surrounds  him. 


I  '1 


■N 


'    1 


:  i. 


i  M 


i    u 


^lin 


44 


TOUR    TO    PENNSYLVANIA. 


Chap-  m 


Ci 


I    i^v.    ! 


I    ,i 


■    ..-i 


i 

m  ■ 


it' 


■i- 


i 

I 

i! ,  H 


CHAPTER  III. 

T;j  ■'>■  /.:)  n  1',r  ?<ni<rar(i  tn  ihr  NorHirni  Fi  i  f'rr  o/'  ['.■iff'i/Ir'.'niii  — 
.'1/  i\,t  (i  ip-  I'crois  F.riii  'f  '  n  of  Nni;  Y.  r!,: — /''".w./  M  i-^/m/on 
111  G  ■urs,r,.—Scpnrni.-~Si(J.liii  (iinwth  uf  N.ir  Tinnr'.  —  Cxil  of 
I)'.ii^t!t"rir,  ami  ',("sriit'il'i,i-e  1o  Ihilis'i  Cmil  Mriiyuret. — Sf'j-iiin- 
;••  (.  —  fltiiiin:i.iis  Bii  il-. —  Nfiiiiriirl'iliiif  of  l''ii  •"■■.— IJf'ilnhrrg 
M  I  •iiiii.ii^  mil   Ft.-!<il: — II"  III    '•■.I'lj  'I'oii'ijili — Ti.rrria  a  i'.    Ihe 

S   ■ltl-<.  —Pj'i!r!tf:;a  t  I   \Yl,ii(ll.—('il     ^i'-'l)lt. Doilirx'   c  S'TvicC. 

Pr:i:sri'':s  nf  Cin'z'itinu. —  /','.  r','.'..'//;r'</7. —  Fh  c-e:iJ!iiii'S. 

JS'rp/.  2.  l^Jll.— From  \i;ig;ira  I'a'is  wo  tra voile:!  lo 
the  larL^c  U.vn  ot  IJiulalo,  on  llic  shoie^  ol  L^  ikc  I^^rio, 
anil  then  pas^ol  thri)ui;li  Williainsvillc,  Lc  Koy,  and 
GoiiosLH),  in  the  Slate  of  Now  Yoik.  The  horizontal 
Silurian  rocks  ol"  this  region  are  in  general  extrenieiy 
like  those  of  coirespoiuling  age  in  [Europe,  consisiing  of 
nnt;l-.slones  and  limestone,  with  similar  corals  and  shells. 
But,  there  is  one  reniarkahle  exceplion  ; — the  occur- 
rence in  the  nii.ldle  of  the  series  of  a  formation  of  red, 
green,  and  bluish  grey  marls  with  beds  of  gypsum, 
and  occasii)nal  salt-springs,  the  whole  being  from  SbO  to 
1,000  feet  thick,  and  uiuii-tinguishable  in  mineral  cha- 
racter from  parts  of  the  Upper  New  Ued  or  Trias  of 
Europ:;.  Near  Le  Roy  I  saw  these  marls  and  the  gyp- 
sum exposed  to  view  in  (piarries.  In  the  overlying  lime- 
stone at  Williamsville  were  large  masses  of  corals,  of 
the  genera  Fdcnsi/.vs^  CjjslipliylJinn,  and  others,  in 
the  position  in  whicli  they  grew.  Some  of  the  species 
agree  with  Britisli  fossils,  but  the  greater  part  of  them, 
as  1  may  state  on  the  autliority  of  Mr.  Lonsdale,  wlio 
has  studied  my  specimens,  are  distinct. 


r 


Chap,  iu 


Chap.  ni.        FOSSIL    MASTODON    AT    GENESEO. 


45 


.<;(///■'.'/:/«. — ■ 
'  Misloiion 
'.-Cdl  of 
, — Si  trill a- 
Hf'dniirrg 
a  ^  in  the 
■  S<rvicc. — 


ivolic;!  to 
ikt'  Hiic, 
liO} ,  and 
orizoutal 
xMciiic'Iy 
jistino-  oi 

1(1  t«Iiells. 

OCfU  I'- 
ll ol"  rt!t], 
gypsum, 
w  SVA)  to 
lal  clia- 
^rias  of 
the  gyp- 
ug  lime- 
orals,  of 
tlicrs,  in 
3  species 
of  them, 
ile,  wlio 


When  at  the  villaire  of  Cenrseo,  I  learnt  that  ten 
years  before,  tlie  bones  of  a  Mastotlon  had  been  ol)- 
tained  from  a  bog  in  the  neighl)oujhood.  and  I  was  de- 
sirous of  knowing  whether  any  shells  accompanied  the 
bones,  and  whether  they  were  of  recent  species.  Mr. 
Hall  and  I  therefore  procured  workmen,  who  were  soon 
join«>d  by  several  amateurs  of  Geneseo,  and  a  pit  was  dug 
to  the  (lej)th  of  about  five  feet  from  the  surface.  Here 
we  came  down  upon  a  bed  of  white  shell-marl  and 
sand,  in  which  lay  portions  of  the  skull,  ivory  tusk,  and 
vertebra',  of  the  extinct  quadruped.  The  shells  proved 
to  be  all  of  existing  freshwater  and  land  species  now 
coninio!!  in  this  district.  I  had  been  told  that  the  Mas- 
tod.)n's  teeth  were  taken  out  of  riinck^  or  the  black  su- 
perficial peaty  earth  of  this  bog.  I  was  therefore  glad 
to  a-certain  that  it  was  really  buried  in  the  she!l-marl 
below  the  peat,  and  therefore  agreed  in  situation  with 
the  large  f)ssil  elks  of  Irelanl,  which,  though  often  said 
to  occur  in  peat,  are  in  fact  m;)t  with  in  subjacent  beds 
of  marl. 

At  the  Falls  of  Le  Hoy,  and  at  the  Fjipor  Falls  of 
the  River  (lencsce  at  Portage,  I  had  opnortuniti(?s  of 
observing  how  both  of  tiiese  cascades  have  been  cut tiii"^ 
their  way  backwards  through  t!ie  Silurian  rocks,  even 
within  the  memory  of  the  present  settlers.  They 
have  each  hollowed  out  a  deep  ravine  with  jierpendic- 
ular  sides,  bearing  the  same  proj)ortion  in  voluiue  to 
the  body  of  water  flowing  througii  tliem  which  the 
great  ravine  of  the  Niagara  does  to  (hat  river. 

IMr.  Mall  txik  leave  of  us  at  Oiu'seo,  after  which  I 
set  out  (.n  a  tour  to  ('xaniiiic  tho  scne-  of  ro/ks  between 
the  upoM-  Siiiir:  111  -fr.itior  ih;.'  St.)!,.  ,,i  X.-u-  V,,rk 
ami  the  Coal  of  Pennsylvauia.    With  this  view  1  took 


ft  ■ 

9      I 


( 

1      I 


♦ 


m 


"il 


'm 


H ;      I 


Vfjl 


.('■'1^: 


T.i 


(r  .'I 


■•il 


!'!^ 


I 

I'M         'i 
ll       I 
ill 


40 


AMERICAN    DRIVERS. 


Chap,  in 


the  direction  of  BlossluM-ij.  whore  tlie  most  northern 
coal  mines  of  the  United  Staten  are  worked. 

On  this  occasion  we  left  the  main  road,  and  entered, 
for  the  first  time,  an  American  stajro-coach,  having 
been  warned  not  to  raise  onr  expectations  too  high  in 
ren^ard  to  the  ease  or  speed  of  onr  conveyance.  Ac- 
cordingly, we  fonnd  that  after  much  fatigue,  we  had 
only  accomplished  a  journey  of  40  miles  in  12  hours, 
between  Geneser  and  Dansville.  We  had  four  horses  ; 
and  when  I  complained  at  one  of  the  inns  that  our 
coachman  seemed  to  take  pleasure  in  driving  rapidly 
over  deep  ruts  and  the  roughest  ground,  it  was  ex- 
plained to  me  that  this  was  the  first  time  in  liis  hfe  he 
had  ever  attempted  to  drive  any  vehicle,  whether  two 
or  four-wheeled.  The  coolness  and  confidence  with 
which  every  one  here  is  ready  to  try  his  hand  at  anj'" 
craft  is  truly  amusing.  A  few  days  afterwards  I  en- 
gaged a  young  man  to  drive  me  in  a  gig  from  'I'ioga 
to  Blossberg.  On  the  way,  he  pointed  out,  first,  his 
father's  property,  and  then  a  farm  of  his  own,  which 
he  had  lately  purchased.  As  he  was  not  yet  twenty 
years  of  age,  I  expressed  surprise  that  he  had  got  on  so 
well  in  the  world,  when  lie  told  me  that  he  had  been 
editor  of  the  "  Tioga  Democrat"'  for  several  years,  but 
had  now  sold  his  share  of  the  newspaper. 

In  the  region  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  borders  of 
Pennsylvania,  as  well  as  in  that  immediately  south  of 
Lake  Ontario,  there  is  an  entire  want  of  fine  scenery, 
as  might  have  been  anticipated  where  all  the  strata  are 
horizontal.  The  monotony  of  the  endless  forest  is 
sometimes  relie^  ed  by  a  steep  escarpment,  a  river  with 
Avooded  islands,  or  a  lake  ;  but  the  only  striking  fea- 
tui'es  in  the  landscape  aie  the  waterfalls,  and  the  deep 


cal  A 


Chap,  iu 

northern 

I  entereil, 

,   having 

)  high  in 

ICC.     Ac- 

!,  we  had 

12  hours, 

r  horses  ; 

that  our 

g  rapidly 

was  ex- 

lis  life  he 

etiier  two 

lice  with 

id  at  any 

ards  I  eii- 

)in  Tioga 

first,  his 

n,  whicli 

i?t  twenty 

got  on  so 

lad  been 

ears,  but 

)orders  of 

south  of 

scenery, 

strata  are 
forest  is 
iver  with 
cing  fe^- 
the  deep 


Chap.  iu. 


FOSSIL    REMAINS    OF    FTSIl. 


47 


chasms  hollowed  out  by  them  in  the  course  of  ages. 
As  the  opposite  b:mks  of  these  niviues  are  on  the  same 
level,  inchuliu'^r  tjiat  of  the  Niagara  itself,  we  come  ab- 
ruptly to  their  cdircs  before  we  have  any  suspicion  of 
tlit'ir  existence,  and  we  must  travel  out  of  our  way  to 
enjov  a  sight  of  them. 

At  length  we  reached  the  water-shed,  where  the 
streams  How,  on  one  side,  northwards  to  Lake  On- 
tario, and  on  the  other,  southwards,  to  the  Susque- 
hanna. 1  l)egan  to  wonder  how  the  Indians  ever  ob- 
tained any  correct  notions  of  to})ograj)hy  in  so  continu- 
ous a  forest,  all  the  smaller  rivers,  with  their  islands, 
being  embowered  and  choked  up  with  trees.  I  soon 
ceased  to  repine  at  the  havoc  that  was  going  on  in  the 
fine  timber  whiidi  bounded  our  road  on  every  vide. 

Alter  traversing  successive  zones  of  the  Ujij>er  Silu- 
rian strata,  I  at  length  entered  at  Bath  upon  the  olivc- 
coloured  slates  and  grey  sandstone,  wliich  seem  to  be 
the  e(|uivalent  of  tiie  lower  part  of  the  Old  Ked,  or 
Devonian  of  Ensjhmd.  In  this  rock  some  streaks  of 
carbonaceous  matter,  which  soon  tliin  out,  and  are 
rarely  three  inches  thick,  are  met  with.  I  found  a  pro- 
prietor on  Spalding's  Creek  preparing  to  sink  a  costly 
shaft  for  coal,  and  1  earnestly  dissuaded  him  from  his 
project,  referring  him  to  the  New  York  survey.  Every 
seieniilic  man  who  discourages  a  favourite  mining 
scheme  must  make  up  his  mind  to  be  as  ill  received  as 
the  physician  who  gives  an  honest  opinion  that  his  pa- 
tient's disorder  is  incurable. 

After  the  Olive  Shite,  I  came  to  an  incumbent  for- 
mat iwi  of  red  sandstone  near  Tioga,  and  collected  fish 
of  two  species  of  Holoptichius,  one  apparently  identi- 
cal with  H.  nobilissimusj  a  fossil  of  the  British  Old 


'ii 


Ml 


,  I 


r 


,  tit 


I.:    1: 


I     ,iU 


'•'( 


i    ' 


!  ■: 


iw  ■ 


;,.;*! 


lit 


i'    Hi 


It- 

ill 

i  ; 


1,     Mi 


'  *  ill 

I 


48 


SUDDEX  GROWTH  OF  NEW  TOWNS.      ClUP.  ITI. 


Roil,  and  another  wliidi,  I  loain  fnnn  Sir  Fhilij)  Eircr- 
toii,  belongs  lo  an  eniire.y  new  type  of  this  g'tuiu.s. 
With  the,<e  were  a  sjiecies  of  Clwloiiiclltys  of  large  di- 
mensions, a  form  also  very  characteristic  of  the  s^anio 
formation  both  in  Jtnssia  and  fScotland. 

S  pt.  5. — At,  J]alh  I  hired  a  private  carriao^e  for 
(yornin;jf.  Altliong-h  there  arc  two  railways  here  with 
locomotive  en<iin(!s,  one  leadinijf  to  tlie  sontii,  the  other 
for  conveyini'-  tiie  coal  of  Blossberg-  to  the  Erie  canal,  I 
looked  in  vain  for  the  name  of  Corning  in  a  newly- 
piihlished  maj),  and  was  informed  that  the  town  was 
only  two  years  old.  Already  the  schojl-honse  was  iin- 
ished,  the  spire  of  the  Methodist  church  nearly  com- 
plete, the  Presbyterian  one  in  the  course  of  building, 
the  site  of  the  Episcopalian  decided  on.  AVishing  to 
have  a  carriage,  1  was  taken  to  [i  large  livery  stable, 
where  there  wei'c  several  vehicles  and  good  horses. 
The  stuui],s  of  trees,  some  six  feet  high,  are  still  stand- 
ing in  the  gardens  and  between  the  liouses.  Our  inn- 
keeper njmark'ed  that  the  cost  of  uprooting  them  wou'd 
be  nearly  equal  to  that  of  erectiiij-  a  log-house  on  the 
same  place.  I  anuised  myself  by  coutiting  the  rings 
of  armual  grovrth  in  these  trees,  and  f.)uud  that  some 
had  been  only  forty  years  old  wlien  cut  down,  yet  wlsen 
these  began  to  grow,  no  white  man  had  approached 
within  many  leagues  of  this  valley  :  most  of  the  older 
stumps  went  back  no  farther  than  two  centuries,  or  to 
tlie  landing  of  the  pilgrim  fathers,  some  few  to  the  time 
of  Sir  V/alter  Kaleigh,  and  scarcely  one  to  the  days  of 
(^olumbus.  I  had  before  remarked  tliat  very  ancient 
trees  seemed  unconnnon  in  the  aboriginal  forests  of  this 
part  of  America.  They  are  usually  tall  and  straight, 
\v"  Ji  no  grass  growing  under  their  dark  shade,  although 


th 


Chap.  hi. 


j)  Kircr- 

urge  tii- 
10  same 


laGjo  for 
M"c  with 
ic  other 
canal,  I 
L  newly- 
iwii  was 
was  fin- 
ily  coin- 
>uiUling, 
filing"  to 
V  stable, 
horses. 
11  stnnd- 
)iir  inii- 
n  won'd 
>  on  the 
le  rings 
It  s  jnie 
ct  wlten 
Droachcd 
ic  older 
s.  or  to 
the  thne 
days  of 
ancient 
^;  of  this 
jtraigiit, 
Ithough 


C/IAT.    III. 


COAL    OF    BLOSSRERG. 


49 


tli(^  green  lierl)age  soon  springs  up  wlien  tlie  wood  is 
rrni.>ved  and  the  sun's  rays  allowed  to  penetrate. 
S  )ni.'  of  the  slumps,  especially  those  of  llie  fir  tribe, 
taivc  til'iy  ye.ns  to  rot  away,  though  exposed  in  the  air 
I  )  aliernatioiiS  of  rain  and  sunsliinc,  a  fact  oi\  which 
i'W'i-y  geilo.jn.-l  will  d>)  well  to  rellect,  for  it  is  clear  that 
tin;  trees  of  a  forest  submerged  beneath  the  waten.',  or 
si  ill  more,  if  entirely  excluded  from  air,  by  becoming 
imbedded  in  seliment,  may  endure  for  centuries 
witiuMii  decay,  so  that  there  may  have  been  ample 
time  f)r  the  slow  petrifaction  of  erect  fossil  trees  in  the 
Carboniferous  and  other  formations,  or  for  the  slow  ac- 
cujmdation  around  them  of  a  great  succession  of  strata. 

I  asked  the  landlord  of  the  inn  at  Corning,  who  was 
very  attentive  to  his  guests,  to  fmd  my  coachman.  He 
nnmediately  called  out  in  his  bar-room,  "Where  is  the 
gentleman  that  brought  this  man  here  ?"  A  few  days 
befr^re,  a  farmer  in  New  York  had  styled  my  wife  '•  the 
woman, '  though  he  called  his  own  daughters  laditSj 
cind  would,  I  believe,  have  freely  extended  that  title  to 
their  maid-servant.  I  was  told  of  a  witness  in  a  late 
tri;^il  at  Boston,  who  stated  in  evidence  that  '-while  he 
and  another  geiitleman  were  shovelling  up  mud,"'  etc.; 
from  which  it  appears  that  the  spirit  of  social  ecpiality 
has  left  no  other  signification  to  the  terms  "  ffentle- 
man"'  and  -'lady"'  but  that  of  ''male  and  female  in 
dividual." 

iScpt.  7.  Blossbcrg. — I  had  now  entered  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  reached  one  of  the  extreme  north-eastern 
ouiUeis  of  the  great  Af)palachian  coal-field,  as  Professor 
llogers  has  termed  the  Coal-measures  of  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio,  and  Virginia.  It  was  tlie  first  time  I  had  seen 
the  true  "Coal''  in  America,  and  I  was  much  strvick 


'II 


's\ 


■i''\i 


\m 


3. 
.at 


M 


}  ■ 


50 


STIOMARIA. 


Chap,  iil 


f-l; 


M   ,i! 


\¥-:\ 


|ii      '     It 


ii.l: 


with  its  surprising  analogy  in  mineral  and  fossil  char- 
acters to  that  of  Europe — the  same  white  grits  or  sand- 
stones as  are  used  for  building  near  Edinburgh  and 
Newcastle — similar  black  shales,  often  bituminous,  with 
the  leaves  of  ferns  spread  out  as  in  an  herbarium,  the 
species  being  for  the  most  part  identical  with  British 
fossil  plants — seams  of  good  bituminous  coal,  some  a 
few  inches,  others  several  yards  in  thickness — l)eds  and 
nodules  of  clay  iron-stone  ;  and  the  whole  scries  resting 
on  a  coarse  grit  and  conglomerate,  containing  ijuartz 
pebbles,  very  like  our  Millstone  Grit,  and  often  called 
by  the  American  as  well  as  the  English  miners  the 
"  Farewell  Rock,"  because  when  they  have  reached  it 
in  their  borings,  they  take  leave  of  all  valuable  fuel. 
Beneath  this  grit  are  those  red  and  grey  sandstones  al- 
ready alluded  to  as  corresponding  in  mineral  character, 
fossils,  and  position,  with  our  "  Old  Red." 

I  was  desirous  of  asceitaining  whether  a  generalisa- 
tion recently  made  by  Mr.  Logan  in  South  ^Vales  could 
hold  good  in  this  country.  Each  of  the  Welsh  seams 
of  coal,  more  than  ninety  in  number,  have  been  found 
to  rest  on  a  sandy  clay  or  firestone,  in  which  a  peculiar 
species  of  plant  called  Stigmaria  abounds,  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  all  others.  I  saw  the  Stigmnria  at  Bloss- 
berg,  lying  in  abundance  in  the  heaps  of  rubbish  where 
coal  had  been  extracted  from  a  horizontal  scam.  Dr. 
Saynisch,  president  of  the  mine,  kindly  lighted  up  the 
gallery  that  I  might  inspect  the  works,  and  we  saw  the 
black  shales  in  the  roof,  adorned  with  beautiful  fern 
leaves,  while  the  floor  consisted  of  an  undcr-clay,  in 
which  the  stems  of  Stisr'norla.  with  their  leaves  or 
rootlets  attached,  were  running  in  all  directions.  The 
agreement  of  these  phenomena  with  those  of  the  Welsh 


I 


Chap,  uk 


Chap.  in. 


HUMMIXG-niRDS. 


61 


iW  char- 
31*  sand- 
gli  and 
us,  witli 
ini,  the 
British 
some  a 
>eds  and 
5  resting 
r  (juartz 
n  called 
ners  tlie 
ached  it 
ble  fuel, 
itones  al- 
liaractcr, 

nerallsa- 
3  could 
1  seiuns 
n  found 
peculiar 
the  ex- 
it Bloss- 
1  where 
in.  Dr. 
d  up  the 
saw  the 
ful  fern 
clay,  in 
saves  or 
The 
e  Welsh 


le 


roal-uieasures,  oOUO  miles  (hstanf,  surprised  nw,  .uid 
lead  to  conilusions  res|)(rtinL,r  the  origiii  of  coal  Ironi 
plants  not  drifted,  but  growing  on  the  s|k)I,  to  w  iiicli  1 
hliall  refer  in  the  sccjuel. 

Dr.  Sayni.sch,  who  was  the  first  to  explore  the  coal 
in  this  region,  told  ine  that,  soon  after  Ik;  settled  here, 
he  shot  a  wolf  out  of  his  lje(lriK)ni  window.  The.se 
animals  still  connnit  havoc  on  the  llocks,  and  last  au- 
tumn a  large  panther  was  killed  in  the  outskirts  of 
Blossberjr,  but  the  bears  have  not  been  seen  for  several 
years,  ^\c  rode  in  a  hot  sumiy  day  to  a  large  clearing 
in  the  Ibrest  far  from  any  habitation,  and  1  was  struck 
with  the  perfect  silence  of  the  surrounding  woimIs.  We 
heard  no  call  or  note  of  any  bird,  nothing  to  remind  us 
of  the  chirping  of  the  chaHinch  or  autumnal  song  of 
our  robin,  the  grasshoppers  and  crickets  alone  keej)ing 
up  a  ceaseless  din  day  and  night.  The  birds  here  arc 
very  abundant,  and  some  are  adorned  with  brilliant 
plumage,  as  the  large  woodpecker,  with  its  criujson 
head, — the  yellow-bird  [Fringllla  tristis),  of  the  size 
of  a  yellow-hannner,  with  black  wings  and  a  bright 
yellow  bo;!}', — the  red-bird  (  Tanagra  rubra),-— and 
the  Loxia  ludovisiana. 

A  hen  hunnning-bird,  far  less  brilliant  in  its  plumage 
than  the  male,  Hew  within  a  few  inches  of  my  face. 
Its  lliuht  and  diminutive  size  reminded  me  of  our  hum- 
ming  sphinx,  or  hawk-moth,  like  which  it  remains 
poised  in  the  air  while  sucking  the  llowers,  the  body 
seeming  motionless,  and  the  wings  being  invisii)le  from 
the  swiftness  of  tlieir  vibrations.  I  had  before  seen  one 
in  the  wood  at  Cedarville,  sucking  tlie  llowcr  of  a  wild 
balsam  [Intpatieiis  hijlora).  Dr.  Saynisch  tells  me 
lliat  on  his  fust  visit  to  these  w^ods,  he  has  known  two 


'  \\ 


■   il 


1' 


S  'i 

Ml 


,n 


■;t1 


f 

1 

• 

1 

i: 
1    \ 

1' 

■.m 


no 


TAMEXKSS    OF    U'lF-P    ANIMALS.         CifAP.  III. 


of  ihcsc  l)ii(ls  at  a  tiiuo  porcli  on  tlic  odjro  of  a  nip 
oi  waicr  wliicli  \n'.  Iield  in  his  liaiid,  and  drink  wititonl 
fear.  1  was  aware  from  Mr.  Darwin's  Vo3age  in  iKc 
litttgU',  that  in  islands  hke  tiie  (jala|)agos, 

"  Wlioie  litiinuit  fool  liatli  iieVr  or  runly  b 'en," 

(he  wild  hirds  have  no  apjjrehcnsion  of  danger  from 
man  ;  hut  here,  where  for  a<^es  tlic  Luhan  Inmters  pre- 
ceded llie  wliiles,  1  am  surprised  to  learn  that  an  in- 
stinctive dread  of  the  great  "usurper"  had  not  hecome 
hereditary  in  tlie  featljercd  trihe.  1  was  told,  however, 
that  in  the  Inniting  grounds  called  Indian  Reservations, 
within  the  limits  of  the  settled  and  civilised  ptatcp,  of 
which  we  passed  one  in  New  York,  the  wild  animals  arc 
comparatively  tame,  it  being  a  system  of  the  Indians 
never  to  molest  tlic  game  or  their  prey,  except  when  re- 
quired for  food. 

We  returned  from  Blossberg  by  the  town  of  Jed'er- 
son,  and,  sailing  down  Seneca  Lake  in  a  steamboat  to 
Geneva,  joined  the  railway,  which  carried  us  back 
again  to  Albany.  At  one  of  the  stations  where  the 
train  stopped  we  overheard  some  young  women  from 
Ohio  exclaim,  '•  \Vell,  we  are  in  a  pretty  fix  !"'  and 
found  their  dileimna  to  be  characteristic  of  the  financial 
crisis  of  these  times,  for  none  of  their  dollar  notes  of  the 
Ohio  banks  would  pass  here.  The  substantive  "fix" 
is  an  acknowhnlged  vulgarism,  but  the  verb  is  used  in 
New  Engkuid  by  well-educated  people,  in  the  sense  of 
the  French  "arranger"  or  the  EngUsh  "do."  To  fix 
the  hair,  the  table,  the  fire,  means  to  dress  the  hair,  lay 
the  table,  and  make  up  the  fire  ;  and  this  application 
is,  I  presume,  of  Hibernian  origin,  as  an  Irish  gentle- 
man, King  Corney,  in  Miss  Edgeworth's  tale  of  Or- 
mond,  savs,  "  I'll  fix  him  and  his  wounds." 


Chap   in. 


NOMKNCLATURE    OP    PLACES. 


53 


There  arc  Hcarcolv  any  Aini'iican  idioms  or  words 
wliicli  an;  not  of  IJriti-li  orii^in,  same  obsolete,  ollieid 
provincial.  When  the  lexicographer,  Noah  Webster, 
whom  I  saw  at  New  Haven,  wns  asked  how  many 
now  words  he  had  coined,  he  replied  one;  only  "  to  de- 
morali/e,"'  and  that  not  lor  his  dictionary,  but  lon<j^  bc- 
I'ore,  in  a  pamphlet  j)ublished  in  the  last  century. 

The  nomenclature  ol'  the  placi^s  passed  ihrougli  in 
our  short  excursion  of  one  month  was  strange  enough. 
We  had  been  at  Syracuse,  L'tica,  Rome,  and  Parma, 
had  gone  from  IJullalo  to  Jiatavia,  and  on  the  same 
day  breakfasted  at  St.  Helena,  and  dined  at  Elba.  We 
collect(!d  fossils  at  Moscow,  and  travelled  by  Painted 
Post  and  Big  I'lats  to  Havamia.  After  returning  by 
Auburn  to  Albany,  I  was  taken  to  Troy,  a  city  of 
2(),(KK)  inhabitants,  that  I  might  see  a  curious  landslip 
which  had  just  lia|)pened  on  Mount  Olympus,  the 
western  side  of  that  hill,  together  with  a  contiguous 
portion  of  Mount  Ida,  Iiaving  slid  down  into  tJie  Hud- 
son, and  caused  the  death  of  several  jiersons.  Fortu- 
nately, some  few  of  the  Indian  names,  such  as  Mohawk, 
Ontario,  Oneida,  Canandaigua,  and  Niagara,  are  re- 
tained. Although  legislative  interference  in  behalf  of 
good  taste  would  not  be  justiliable,  Congress  might  in- 
terpose for  the  sake  of  the  post-office,  and  prevent  the 
future  multiplication  of  the  same  names  fjr  villages, 
cities,  counties,  and  townships.  That  more  than  a 
hundred  places  should  be  called  Washington  is  an  in- 
tolerable nuisance.  An  Englishman,  it  is  true,  cannot 
complain,  for  we  follow  the  same  S3'stem  in  our  colonies  ; 
and  it  is  higl)  time  that  the  postmaster-general  brougtit 
ia  a  bill  for  prohibiting  new  streets  in  London  from  re- 
ceiving names  already  appropriated  and  repeated  7{/Vy 


M 


)t 


M 


I 


^  i 


iM, 


Ml 


ti 


iiJ! 


i:: 


!    •'! 


1 


H 


.*«.! 

'I^"'. 


iMi 


ir! 


■hi 


jit'lii; 


54 


HELDEllBKRG    MOUNTAINS. 


Chap,  la 


times  in  that  paino  city,  to  tlic  infinite  confusion  of  the 
inh<il)it,ants  and  their  letter-carriers. 

At  Troy  I  visited  Professor  Eaton,  who  puljHshed  in 
1824,  in  his  "Survey  of  the  Erie  Canal,"  the  earliest 
account  of  the  Niagara  district,  dividing  the  rocks  into 
groups,  nearly  all  of  which  have  been  since  adopted 
by  the  New  York  surveyors.  The  mind  of  this  pio- 
neer in  American  geology  was  still  in  full  activity,  and 
his  zeal  unabated  ;  but  a  few  months  after  my  visit  he 
filed  at  an  advanced  age. 

I  next  examined,  in  company  with  Mr.  Hall,  two 
swamps,  situated  in  Albany  and  Greene  counties,  west 
cf  the  Hudson  river,  where  the  remains  of  a  Mastodon 
occurred,  in  both  places  at  the  depth  of  four  or  live 
feet,  in  shell-marl,  with  recent  species  of  shells.  These 
deposits  of  marl  covered  with  peat  are  newer  than  the 
b(Hilder  formation,  and  ca.ttle  have  very  lately  been 
rnired  in  the  same  bogs.  In  similar  situations  in  Scot- 
land and  England  we  find  only  tlie  remains  of  existing 
mammalia ;  and  although  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames 
and  elsewhere  we  discover  the  bones  of  the  extinct 
elephant  and  rhinoceros  associated  with  recent  land 
and  freshwater  shells  (mingled,  however,  with  some 
few  exotic  species),  the  strata  in  which  they  lie  do  not 
belong  precisely,  like  those  in  New  York,  to  the  most 
modern  geograjihical  condition  of  the  country. 

We  then  made  a  tour  to  the  Helderberg  Mountains, 
S.  W.  of  Albany,  to  see  the  Upper  Silurian  strata,  and 
to  study  their  fossils  m  the  museum  of  Mr.  Gebhard  at 
Schoharie.  '^IMie  dej)th  of  the  valleys,  and  some  precip 
it:)us  clids  of  limestone,  render  this  region  more  pic- 
tmesque  than  is  Ur^ual  where  the  strata  are  undisturbed. 
1  rejoiced  to  see  the  sugar-maple  {Acer  saccharinus), 


CiiAF.  m. 
•n  of  the 

lished  in 
!  earliost 
jcks  into 
adopted 
this  pio- 
^'ity,  and 
Y  visit  he 

^all,  two 
ies,  west 
/lastodon 
r  or  live 
Tliese 
than  the 
ely  been 
in  Scot- 
'  existing" 
Thames 
e  extinct 
ent  land 
ith  some 
ie  do  not 
the  most 

ountains, 
rata,  and 
;bhard  at 
le  precip 
more  pic- 
hsturbed. 
iarinus), 


Chap.  hi. 


REFRACTORY    TENANTS. 


55 


an  ornamental  tree,  spared  in  the  new  clearings.  The 
sap  from  wbich  pui^ar  is  made  was  everywhere  trick- 
lini^  down  into  wooden  troughs  froni_  gashc^Tniide  in 
the  bark'.  The  rod  maples  were  now  beginning-  to  as- 
sume tlieii  bright  autujnnal  tints,  but  the  rest  of  the 
forest  was  as  verdant  as  ever ;  a  blue  Lobelia,  wliich 
we  liad  gathered  at  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  was  still  in 
bloom,  together  with  many  white  and  blue  asters  which 
bad  only  just  come  out.  The  most  elegant  flower  in 
the  woods  at  this  season  is  the  fringed  gentian  {Gen- 
tiana  crinita). 

"  Bright  with  Autumn  dew, 

And  colour'd  with  the  Heaven's  own  blue." 

One  day  at  Schoharie,  a  hawk  pounced  down  from 
a  lofty  tree,  and  seized  a  striped  squirrel  on  the  ground, 
within  three  yards  of  our  party.  It  was  bearing  off 
its  burden  with  ease,  until,  alarmed  by  our  shouts,  it 
dropped  the  squirrel,  which  ran  off  apparently  unhurt. 
I  observed  early  in  the  morning  myriads  of  cobwebs 
extending  from  one  blade  of  grass  to  another,  as  we 
often  see  them  on  an  English  lawn  before  the  dew  M' 
dried  up. 

On  our  way  back  from  Schoharie  to  Albany,  we 
found  the  countiy  people  in  a  ferment,  a  sherirf's  officer 
having  been  seriously  w^ound  d  when  in  the  act  of  dis- 
training for  rent,  this  being  tbe  third  year  of  the  "  Hel- 
dorberg  war,"  or  a  successfid  resif^tance  by  an  armed 
tenantry  to  the  legal  demands  of  their  landlord,  Mr. 
Van  Renssalaer.  It  appears  that  a  large  amount  of 
territory  on  both  sides  of  the  river  Hudson,  now  siq)- 
porting,  according  to  some  estimates,  a  population  of 
100,000  souls,  had  long  been  held  in  fee  by  the  Van 
Renssalaer  family,  the  tenants  paying  a  small  groimd 


'ii 


<l 


i'l 


■II  'I 


i^J 


[      \ 

■      |i 
.  Ill 

■■   :\\ 

■  ^1 
ill 

•  (. 

'   f 
( 


.fi 


56 


REFRACTORY    TENANTS. 


Chap,  hi 


IV' 


■  ! 


i^'i: 


Ml, 


4\ 


M 


rent.  This  system  of  thing;-)  is  regarded  by  many  as 
not  only  injurious,  because  it  imposes  grievous  restraii  ts 
upon  aUcnation,  but  as  unconstitutional,  or  contrary  to 
the  genius  of  their  political  institutions,  and  tending  to 
create  a  sort  of  feudal  perpetuity.  Some  of  the  leases 
liave  already  been  turned  into  fees,  but  many  of  the 
tenants  were  unable  or  unwilling  to  j^ay  the  prices 
asked  for  such  conveyances,  and  declared  that  they 
had  paid  rent  long  enough,  and  that  it  was  high  time 
that  they  should  be  owners  of  the  land. 

A  few  years  ago,  when  the  estates  descended  from 
the  late  General  Van  Kcnssalaer  to  his  sons,  the  at- 
tempt to  enforce  the  landlord's  rights  met  with  open 
opposition.  The  courts  of  law  gave  judgment,  and  the 
sheriff  of  Albany  having  failed  to  execute  his  process, 
at  lengtii  took  miUtary  force  in  1839,  but  with  no  bet- 
ter success.  The  governor  of  New  York  was  then 
compelled  to  back  him  with  the  military  array  of  the 
state,  about  700  men,  who  began  the  camj)aign  at  a 
day's  notice  in  a  severe  snow  storm.  The  tenants  are 
said  to  have  nuistered  against  them  1500  stroiiuf.  and 
the  rents  were  still  unpaid,  when  in  the  following  year, 
1840,  the  governor,  courting  popularity,  as  it  should 
seem,  while  condenming  the  recusants  in  his  message, 
virtually  encouraged  them  by  recommending  their  case 
to  the  favourable  consideration  of  the  state,  hintinir  at 
the  sanie  time  at  legislative  remedies.  The  leuislature, 
however,  to  their  credit,  refused  to  enact  these,  leavinir 
the  case  to  the  ordinary  courts  of  law. 

The  whole  aliair  is  curious,  as  demonstrating  tlie 
impossibihty  of  creating  at  present  in  this  country  a 
class  of  landed  proprietors  deriving  their  income  Ir^m 
the  letting  of  lands  upon  lease.     Every  man  must  oc~ 


'1. 


Chap,  iu 


Ciup.  III. 


POLITExVESS    TO    WOMEN. 


67 


many  as 
cstiuii  la 
Hilary  to 
nding  to 
lie  leases 
ly  of  the 
le  prices 
lat  tliey 
igh  time 

led  from 
,  the  at- 
ith  open 
,  and  the 
5  process, 
h  no  bet- 
vas  tlien 
ly  of  the 
(»n  at  a 
ants  are 
nifj:.  and 
ng  year, 
t  sliould 
incs.sage, 
heir  case 
iitinjx  at 
>ishaiire, 
,  leaving 

ling  the 
umUy  a 
ne  hum 
nuit  oc- 


'1 


cupy  his  own  acres.  He  who  has  capital  enough  to 
slock  a  farm  can  obtain  land  of  his  own  so  cheap  as 
naturally  to  prefer  being  ins  own  landlord. 

tS'.'j}l.  27.  1811. — We  embarked  once  more  on  the 
Hudson,  to  sail  from  Albany  to  Xew  York,  with  several 
hundred  passengers  on  board,  and  thought  the  scenery 
more  beautiful  than  ever.  The  steam-boat  is  a  great 
lloating  hotel,  of  which  the  captain  is  landlord.  He 
presides  at  meals,  taking  care  that  no  gentlemen  take 
their  places  at  table  till  all  the  ladies,  or,  as  we  should 
say  in  England,  the  women  of  every  class,  are  lirsl 
seated.  The  men,  by  whom  they  are  accompanied, 
are  tlien  hivited  to  Join  them,  after  whicli,  at  the  sound 
of  a  bell,  the  bachelors  and  married  men  travelling  en 
ga/'fon  pour,  ito  the  saloon,  in  nuich  the  same  style  .9 
members  of  the  House  of  Commons  rush  into  the  Up- 
per House  to  hear  a  speech  from  the  throne. 

One  of  the  Arst  peculiarities  that  must  strike  a  for- 
eigner in  the  United  States  is  the  deference  paid  uni- 
versally to  the  sex,  without  regard  to  station.  Women 
may  travel  alone  here  in  stage-coaches,  steam-boats, 
and  railways,  with  less  risk  of  encountering  disagreeable 
behaviour,  and  of  hearing  coarse  and  impleasant  con- 
versation, than  in  any  country  I  have  ever  visited. 
The  contrast  in  this  respect  between  the  Americans 
and  the  French  is  quite  remarkable.  There  is  a  spirit 
of  true  gallantry  in  all  tliis,  but  the  publicity  of  the 
railway  car,  where  all  are  in  one  long  room,  and  of  the 
large  ordinaries,  whether  on  land  or  water,  is  a  grea< 
protection,  the  want  of  which  has  been  felt  by  many  a 
female  traveller  without  escort  in  England.  As  the 
Americans  address  no  conversation  to  stiang-ers,  we 
soon  became  tolerably  reconciled  to  livinj  so  nmch  in 


I     Ml 


41 
I 


U'i 


iil; 


M 


■',  11 


m 
,1 


\m 


■;\\ 


li 


JLlH 
111   " 


■I" 


■III! 


,  H 


i-.  I 


II 


r  iij! 


W 


■"1  HJiiii 


68 


CANAL-BOAT. 


fJiiAr.  ni. 


public.  Our  fellow-passengers  consisted  for  '.he  most 
part  of  shopkeepers,  arlizans.  and  mechanics,  with  their 
l"ainili(v,  all  well-dressed,  and  so  far  as  we  had  inter- 
course with  them,  polite  and  desirous  to  please.  A 
larn^e  j)art  of  them  were  on  pleasure  excursions,  in 
which  they  delight  to  spend  their  spare  cash. 

On  one  or  two  occasions  during  oin*  late  tour  in  the 
newly-settled  districts  of  New^  York,  it  was  intimated 
to  us  that  we  were  expected  to  sit  down  to  dinner  with 
our  driver,  usually  tlu^  son  or  brother  of  the  farmer  who 
owned  our  vehicle.  AN'e  were  invariably  struck  with 
the  propriety  of  their  manners,  in  which  tliere  was  self 
respect  without  forwardness.  The  only  disagreeable  ad- 
venture in  the  way  of  cominc:  hito  close  contact  witli  low 
and  coarse  companions,  arose  from  my  taking  places  in  a 
cheap  canal-boat  near  liockport,  j.artly  filled  with  emi- 
grants, and  corresponding  somcAvhat  in  the  rank  of  its 
passengers  with  a  third-class  railway-carriage  in  Eng- 
land. "Q,ue  diable  allait-il  faire  dans  cefte  galore  ?" 
would  have  been  a  diflicult  {piestion  for  me  to  answer, 
especially  as  I  afterwards  learnt  that  I  might  have 
hired  a  good  private  carriage  at  the  very  place  where  I 
embarked.  This  convenience  indeed,  although  there 
is  no  posting,  I  invariably  found  at  my  conmiand  in 
all  the  states  of  the  Union,  both  i.jrthern  and  southern, 
which  I  visited  during  my  stay  in  America. 

Travellers  must  make  up  their  minds,  in  this  as  in 
other  countries,  to  fall  in  now  and  then  with  free  and 
easy  people.  I  am  bound,  how  ever,  to  say  that  in  the 
two  most  fflarim^  instances  of  vulgar  familiarity  which 
we  have  experienced  here,  we  found  out  that  both  the 
olfciiders  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  only  ten  years  before, 
and  had  risen  rapidly  from  a  humble  station.     What- 


f/'iiAP.  m. 


TllAP.  III. 


PROGRESS    OF    CIVILIZATION. 


89 


'lie  most 
\  ith  their 
ad  inter- 
ease.  A 
sions,  in 

uv  in  the 
ntiniated 
iner  with 
mer  w  Iio 
ick  with 
was  sclf- 
icable  ad- 
wit  h  low 
laces  in  a 
vith  enii- 
uik  of  its 
!  in  Eng- 
galcre '?" 
)  answer, 
<^]\i  have 
3  whore  I 
gh  there 
itiand  in 
southern, 

his  as  in 
free  and 
at  in  the 
ty  which 
lioth  the 
rs  before, 
AVhat- 


ever  good  breeding  exists  heie  in  the  middle  classes  la 
certainly  not  of  foreign  importation  ;  and  John  Bull, 
in  particular,  when  out  of  humour  with  the  manners 
of  the  Americans,  is  often  unconsciously  beholding  his 
own  image  in  the  mirror,  or  comparing  one  class  of 
society  in  the  United  States  with  another  in  his  own 
country,  which  ought,  from  superior  atlluence  and  lei- 
sure, to  exhibit  a  higher  standard  of  refinement  and 
intelligence. 

We  have  now  seen  the  two  largest  cities,  many 
towns  and  villages,  besides  some  of  the  back  settlements, 
of  New  York  and  the  New  England  States ;  an  ex- 
enjpiilicatioO;  I  am  told,  of  a  population  amounting  to 
about  five  millions  of  souls.  We  have  met  with  no 
beggars,  witnessed  no  signs  of  want,  but  everywhere 
the  most  une([uivocal  proofs  of  prosperity  and  rapid 
progress  in  agriculture,  commerce,  and  great  public 
works.  As  these  states  are,  some  of  them,  entirely 
free  from  debt,  and  the  rest  have  punctually  paid  the 
interest  of  Government  loans,  it  would  be  most  unjust 
to  ap|)ly  to  them  the  disparaging  connnent  "  that  it  is 
easy  to  go  ahead  with  borrowed  money."  In  spite  of 
the  constant  intlux  of  uneducated  and  pennyless  ad- 
venturers from  Europe,  I  believe  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble to  find  five  millions  in  any  other  region  of  the  globe 
whose  average  moral,  social,  and  intellectual  condition 
stands  so  high.  One  convincing  evidence  of  their  well- 
being  has  not,  I  think,  been  sufficiently  dwelt  upon  by 
foreigners :  1  allude  to  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  and 
retaining  young  American  men  and  women  for  a  series 
of  years  in  domestic  service,  an  occupation  by  no  means 
considered  as  degrading  here,  for  they  are  highly  paid, 
and  treated  almost  as  equals.     But  so  long  as  they  en- 


ii 


41 


ea 


PHILADELPHIA. 


Chap,  m 


i:,. 


J      :1 


I.,,, , 


i'  llfi 


III  l'„ 


II 


fM 


liU 


I  !• 


i'      l:'!! 


joy  such  facilities  of  bettering  their  condition,  and  can 
marry  early,  they  will  naturally  renounce  this  bondage 
as  soon  as  possible.  That  the  few,  or  the  opulent 
class,  especially  those  resident  in  country  places,  should 
be  put  to  great  inconvenience  by  this  circumstance,  is 
unavoidable,  and  we  must  therefore  be  on  our  guard, 
when  endeavouring  to  estimate  the  happiness  of  the 
many,  not  to  sympathise  too  much  with  this  minority. 

I  am  also  aware  that  the  blessing  alluded  to,  and 
many  others  which  they  enjoy,  belong  to  a  progressive, 
as  contrasted  with  a  stationary,  state  of  society  ; — that 
they  characterize  the  new  colony,  where  there  is; 
abundance  of  unoccupied  land,  and  a  ready  outlet  to 
a  redundant  labouring  class.  They  are  not  the  results 
of  a  democratic,  as  compared  with  a  monarchical  or 
aristocratic  constitution,  nor  the  fruits  of  an  absolute 
equality  of  religious  sects,  still  less  of  universal  sulliage. 
Nevertheless,  we  must  not  forget  how  easily  all  the  ge- 
ographical advantages  arising  from  climate,  soil,  Ihie 
navigable  rivei-s,  splendid  harbours,  and  a  wilderness 
in  the  far  West,  might  have  been  marred  by  other  laws, 
and  other  political  institutions.  Had  Spain  colonized 
this  region,  how  different  would  have  been  her  careei 
of  civilisation  !  Had  the  puritan  fatliers  landed  on  th( 
banks  of  the  Plata,  how  many  hundreds  of  large  steam- 
ers would  ere  this  have  been  plying  the  Parana  and 
Uruguay, — how  many  railway-trains  flying  over  the 
Pampas, — how  many  large  schools  and  universities 
flourishing  in  Paraguay ! 

Sept.  28. — We  next  went  by  railway  from  New 
York  to  Philadelphia  through  the  state  of  New  Jersey. 
Large  fields  of  maize,  without  the  stumps  of  trees  ris- 
ing above  the  corn,  and  villas  with  neat  flower-gardens, 


i 


■U 


Chap,  ni 


Chap.  hi. 


FIRE-ENGINES. 


ei 


and  can 

bondage 

opulent 

;,  should 

tance,  is 

r  guard, 

s  of  the 

linority. 

to,  and 

gressive, 

T ; — that 

there    is : 

outlet  to 

c  resuhs 

;hical  or 

absolute 

niHrage. 

1  the  ge- 

soil,  fine 

derncss 

ler  laws, 

olonized 

careei 

on  th( 

steam- 

na  and 

iver  the 

versities 


seemed  a  novelty  to  us  after  the  eye  had  dwelt  for  so 
many  hundreds  of  miles  on  native  forej^ts  and  new 
clearings.  The  streets  of  Philadelphia  rival  the  finest 
Dutch  towns  in  cleanliness,  and  the  beautiful  avenues 
of  various  kinds  of  trees  lillbrd  a  most  welcome  shade 
hi  summer.  We  were  five  days  here,  and  every  night 
there  was  an  alarm  of  fire,  usually  a  false  one  ;  hut 
the  noise  of  the  firemen  was  tremendous.  At  the  head 
of  the  procession  came  a  runner  blowing  a  horn  with  a 
deep  unearthly  sound,  next  a  long  team  of  men  (for 
no  horses  are  employed)  drawing  a  strong  rope  to  which 
the  ponderous  engine  was  attached  with  a  large  bell  at 
the  top,  ringing  all  the  way  ;  next  followed  a  mob, 
some  with  torches,  others  shouting  loudl}' ;  and  before 
thev  were  half  out  of  hearinir,  another  enoine  follows 
with  a  like  escort;  the  whole  allair  resemblino-  a  scene 
in  Der  Frelschutz  or  Robert  Ic  Diable,  rather  than 
an  act  in  real  life.  It  is,  however,  no  slicun,  for  these 
young  men  are  ready  to  risk  their  lives  in  extinguish- 
ing a  fire  ;  and  as  an  apology  for  their  disturbing  the 
peaci?  of  the  city  wlien  there  was  no  cause,  we  were 
told  "  that  the  youth  here  require  excitement !"  They 
manage  these  matters  as  ellectively  at  Boston  without 
turmoil. 


II 

1 1  ii 


i!| 


-. ;  li 


,,[11 


v  .'A 


Tfi  New 
Jersey, 
rees  ris- 
^ardens, 


::rv 


62 


EXCURSION    TO   NEW   JERSEY. 


CUAT  IT. 


It    -I 


CHAPTER  IV. 


m 


\h 


ExcJireion  to  New  Jersey. — Cretaceoutt  Rocks  compared  to  European- 
— General  Analogy  of  Fossils,  and  Distinctness  of  Species. — Tout 
to  the  Anthracite  Region  of  the  Allcghanies  in  Pennsylvania.— 
Long  parallel  Ridges  and  Valleys  of  these  M'luntains. — Poltsville 
— Absence  of  Smoke. — Fossil  Plants  same  as  in  Bituminous  Coal 
— Stigmnri<B. — Great  Thickness  of  Strata. — Origin  of  Anthracite 
— Vast  Area  of  the  Appalachian  Coal-field. — Progressive  Dehitu- 
minizntion  of  Coal  from  West  to  East. — General  Remarks  on  the 
different  Groups  of  Ricks  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Missis- 
sippi.— L'lw  of  Structure  of  the  Appalachian  Chain  discovered  by 
the  Professors  Rogers. — Increased  Folding  and  Dislocation  of 
Strata  on  the  South-eastern  Flank  of  the  Appalachians. — Theory 
of  the  Origin  of  this  Mountain  Chain. 


Cretaceous  Strata  op  New  Jersey. 


Sept.  30,  1841. — From  Philadelphia  I  made  a  geo- 
logical excursion  of  several  days,  to  examine  the  creta- 
ceous strata  of  New  Jersey,  in  company  with  Mr.  Con- 
rad, to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  several  valuable  works 
on  I  he  fossil  shells  of  the  tertiary,  cretaceous,  and  Silu- 
rian Strata  of  the  United  States.  We  went  first  to 
Bristol  on  the  Delaware  to  visit  Mr.  Vanuxem,  then  en- 
gaged in  preparing  for  publication  his  portion  of  the 
State  Survey  of  New  York ;  next  by  Bordentown  to 
New  Egypt,  and  returned  by  the  Timber  Creek,  re- 
crossing  the  Delaware  at  Camden. 

Although  in  this  part  of  New  .Jersey  there  is  no 
white  chalk  with  flints,  so  characteristic  of  rocks  of  this 
age  in  Europe,  it  is  still  impossible  to  glance  at  the  fos- 
sils, and  not  to  be  convinced  that  Dr.  Morton  was  right 


CUA*   IT. 


to  Europenti 
t"je8. — Tout 
nsylvania.— 
— Pottsville 
ninous  Conl. 
'■  Aiithrttnite 
aive  Debitu- 
narks  on  the 
the  Missis- 
lisrovered  hy 
slocation  of 
ns. — Theory 


3EY. 

ide  a  gco- 
the  creta- 
Mr.  Con- 
ible  works 
and  Silu- 
it  first  to 
,  then  en- 
on  of  the 
ntown  to 


'reek, 


re- 


ere  is  no 

ks  of  tliis 

it  the  fos- 

vvas  right 


Chap.  iv.  CRETACnOUS  STRATA  OF  NEW  JERSE"'' 


63 


in  referring;  in  1831  tlic  New  Jersey  dopo-its  to  the 
European  cretaceous  era.  He  and  Mr.  Conrad  re- 
marked that  tlie  American  species  of  shells  were  nearly 
all  new,  or  distinct  from  those  before  described,  and  yet 
ver}'  analo«Tous  to  those  of  cretaceous  strata  already 
known.  The  New  Jersey  rocks  have  been  separated 
into  five  subdivisions,  but  of  these  two  only  have 
jnovcd  sulficiently  rich  in  organic  remains  to  admit  of 
their  being  compared  with  corresponding  strata  in  dis- 
tant regions.  The  lower  of  these  consists  in  great  part 
of  green  sand  and  green  marl,  and  was  supposed  by 
Dr.  Morton  to  be  the  equivalent  of  the  English  "  Green 
sand ;''  while  an  upper  or  calcareous  rock,  composed 
chief!}'  of  a  soft  straw-coloured  limestone  with  corals, 
was  thought  to  correspond  with  the  white  chalk  of  Eu- 
rope. But  after  carefully  comparing  my  collection, 
comprising  about  CO  species  of  shells,  besides  many 
corals  and  other  remains,  1  have  arrived  at  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  whole  of  the  New  Jersey  series  ajjrees  in 
its  cluonological  relations  with  the  European  white 
chalk,  or,  to  speak  more  precisely,  with  the  formations 
ranging  from  the  Gault  to  the  Maestricht  beds  inclu- 
sive. Aniong  the  shells,  in  determining  which  I  have 
been  assisted  by  Professor  E.  Forbes,  not  more  than 
four  out  of  sixty  seem  to  be  quite  identical  with  Eu- 
ropean species.  These  are  BehmnUes  rnncrnnatfis, 
Pccien  qifhiquficostalifs,  Ostrea  falcata  (O.  hrva, 
Goldfuss),  and  O.  vesicfda?'h.  Several  others,  how- 
ever, approach  very  near  to,  and  may  be  the  same  as 
European  shells,  as  for  example  Trig-on i a  i/toracica, 
and  at  least  fifteen  may  be  regarded  as  good  geo- 
graphical representatives  of  well-known  chalk  fossils, 
belonging,  for  the  most  part,  to  beds  above  the  Gault 


-I 

!,MI 


i , 

,■1 

1 

i 

i 

1 

'    1 

1 
f 
1 

:■»!'! 


1 


u 


'M^ 


Ik 


,:!•:•  1^1 


64 


GENERAL    ANALOGY    OP    FOSSILS.        Cimp.  nr 


I    i! 


i  !,1 


ill  Europe.  I'hcro  are  a  fmv  very  pfculiar  forms 
ainoiiiT  the  American  testacea,  sucli  lu  Ttrebidtula 
Sayil  (Morton). 

In  tlie  uj)j)er  or  straw-coloured  limestone,  I  found,  on 
the  hanks  of  the  Timher  Creek,  twelve  miles  south- 
east of  Philadelphia,  six  species  of  corals  and  several 
echinoderins,  chietly  allied  to  Uftper  Cretaceous  forms. 
The  same  calcareous  stratum  also  ahounds  in  forami- 
nifera,  characteristic  of  the  chalk,  comprising,  among 
others,  the  genera  Cristtllaria^  Rotalina^  and  Nodo- 
sario.  Mr.  Owen  has  nxognised,  in  the  fossil  reptiles 
from  New  Jersey,  not  only  the  vertehra;  of  Mnsas<m- 
riis,  previously  noticed  by  Dr.  Morton,  but  also  the 
Pliosaurus,  and  a  large  crocodile  of  the  Proctrlian  di 
vision,  or  liaving  its  vertebrie  like  the  living  species, 
with  the  anterior  surface  concave.  There  aiti  also 
many  fish  of  the  shark  family,  analogous  to  the^e  of 
the  English  clialk,  and  the  Galcus  prisfodontns  is 
represented  by  a  species  very  closely  allied,  if  not  iden- 
tical. 

Upon  the  whole,  the  list  of  genera,  and  the  forms  of 
the  species,  are  remarkably  analogous  to  the  cretaceous 
group  of  Europe  ;  and  the  agreement  of  foiu*  or  live 
species  of  MoUusca,  being  in  the  proportion  of  about 
seven  in  the  hundred,  implies  no  inconsiderable 
aniount  of  alllnity  at  a  distance  of  between  3000  and 
4000  miles  from  the  corresponding  assemblage  of  fos- 
sils in  Central  and  Northern  Europe,  especially  when 
we  recollect  that  there  is  a  ditference  in  latitude  of 
more  than  ten  degrees  between  the  two  districts  com- 
pared. Some  of  the  species  common  to  the  opposite 
sides  of  the  Atlantic,  are  those  which  in  Europe  have 
the  greatest  vertical  range,  as  Pccten  quuiquccosiaius, 


■^; 


ClIAP.    IT 

ir   forma 
ibi'dtula 

bund,  on 
IS  south- 
1  s^evcml 
lis  forms. 
1  forami- 
r,  among 
id  Nodo- 
il  reptiles 
losasan- 

also  the 
icrlian  di 
r  specicf*, 

are   also 

tht'^e  of 
lontiis  is 

not  iden- 

forms  of 
retaceous 
u-  or  five 
of  about 
isiderablc 
3000  and 
!^e  of  fos- 
lly  wlien 
titude  of 
icts  com- 
opposite 
ope  have 
costatuSi 


Chap.  IV.        T01:R  TO  THE  ANTIIRACITK  IlKtJION. 


C5 


■^ 


and  which  mii»ht  therefore  be  expected  to  recur  in  dis- 
tant parts  ol'  the  i^Iobe. 

At  the  siiiik;  time  we  learn  from  the  facts  above 
mentioned,  tiiat  the  marine  fauna,  wliether  vertebrate 
or  iiiveriebrate,  testaceous  or  zoophytic,  was  divided  at 
tiie  remote  epoch  under  consideration,  as  it  is  now,  into 
disiiiut  g('OL;ra|)lncal  jMovinces,  alliiough  the  j^eoloyist 
m:)y  everywiiere  rrcoi,'"nise  tiie  cretact.'ous  type,  whe- 
ther in  Enroi)e  or  America,  and  I  miglit  add,  India. 
This  peodiar  type  exhibits  tin;  prej)onderating  inllu- 
ence  of  a  vast  combination  of  circumstances,  prevail- 
in<,^  at  one  period  throughout  the  globe — circumstances 
dependent  o\\  the  state  of  the  physical  geograj)hy,  cli- 
mate, and  tbe  organic  world  in  the  period  innnediately 
preceding,  together  with  a  variety  of  other  conditions 
too  long  to  enumerate  here.  It  would  not  be  tiil];cult 
for  a  naturalist  to  point  out  the  characters  stamped  on 
the  living  Flora  and  Fauna,  by  which  they  also  might 
be  distinguished  as  a  whole  from  those  of  all  fouuL'r 
geological  epochs.  The  resemblance  of  the  corals, 
shells,  and  insects,  of  certain  temperate  regions  of  the 
southern  hemisphere  (Van  Dieman's  Land,  for  exam- 
ple), to  those  of  the  teniperate  zone  north  of  the  ecpia- 
tor,  or  the  close  analogy  of  the  arctic  and  antarctic 
fauna,  the  species  in  both  cases  being  (luite  dillerent, 
an;  illustrations  of  the  connnon  type  here  alluded  to, 
which  is  evidently  caused  or  controlled  bv  s;)me  «ren- 
end  law,  and  by  some  nmlual  relation  existing  be- 
tween the  animate  creation  and  the  state  of  the  habi- 
table surface  at  any  given  period. 

Anthracite  Formation  of  Pennsylvania. 
Oct.  3. — Having  already  seen  the  carboniferous  stra 


' )] 


.1!. 


-4 


III'  il* 


"I 

I 


III 


il      .,        I'll), 


I 


il  i'    ■ ' 

liiiji  * 


^1 


^i:,  v 


ill: 


66 


Tin:    yVLT-EOIIANY    MOUNTAINS. 


ClIAP.  IT 


ta  at  niosslxTi^  in  Ponn^ylvaiiia,  where  tliey  arc  veiy 
slijxlifl)  disturbed,  ;md  wliere  (lie  eo;\l  is  bitiiniinoii^,  1 
was  desirous  of  exaininiui;'  some  of  tlie  j^rcat  mines  of 
anlluaeit<;  coal  wiiiirli  oceur  in  llie  midst  of  tin;  most, 
heiit  and  inclined  strata  of  tlie  Allej^'Iiany  mountains. 
Professor  II.  I).  Kojjfers,  who,  with  an  able  corps  of  as- 
sistants, had  nf)W  nearly  broui^ht  to  a  close  his  elabo- 
rate State  Survey  of  Penn-^ylvani;i,  kindly  ollered  to 
be  my  guide,  which  enabled  me  in  a  comparatively 
short  time  to  obtain  uu  insi:rhtinto  the  iT'e()l();»'ical  struc- 
ture of  this  chain.  We  fnst  followed  the  course  of  the 
Schuylkill  River,  passing  through  a  country  moderate- 
ly elevated  (n,  c,  (ig.  5.  p.  71.),  with  hills  between  200 
and  300  feet  above  the  sea,  where  the  rocks  consisted 
chielly  of  gneiss.  As  we  went  westward  we  entered  a 
belt,  about  twenty-five  miles  broad,  of  red  sandstone 
and  trap  (New  Red),  similar  to  that  befare  mentioned  at 
New  Haven.  Having  traversed  these  granitic  and 
secondaiy  formations,  we  arrived  at  Reading,  fifty-two 
miles  N.  W.  of  Philadelphia,  and  were  then  at  the 
base  of  the  easternmost  of  the  great  parallel  ridges 
which  constitute  the  AUeghanies  or  Appalachian  chain 
of  mountains.  The  rocks  of  this  chain  consist  of  the 
Silurian,  Devonian,  and  Carboniferous  groups,  which 
are  folded  as  if  they  had  been  subjected  to  a  great 
lateral  piessure  when  in  a  soft  and  yielding  state,  large 
portions  having  been  afterw^ards  removed  by  denuda- 
tion. No  traveller  can  fail  to  remark  the  long  and 
uniform  parallel  ridges,  with  intervening  valleys,  like 
so  many  gigantic  wrinkles  and  fuiTows,  which  mark 
the  geographical  outline  of  thi.j  region;  and  these  ex- 
ternal features  are  found  by  the  geologist  to  be  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  internal  arrangement  of  the 


1 


Chap,  it 


rii,\r.  IV. 


rOTTSVILI.K. 


67 


I  re  veiy 
linoiH,  I 
nines  of 
i«;  most 
imtaiiis. 
)s  of  an- 
i-4  olaho- 
I'crcd  to 
iriiiively 
al  struc- 
50  of  the 
lodorate- 
ceii  200 
•()n>;i!sted 
iiiterccl  a 
in:l.stone 
tioned  at 
itic   and 
fifty-two 
I  at   the 
:l   ridges 
111  chain 

t  of  the 
s,  which 

a  great 
ite,  large 

denuda- 
ong  and 


eyf 


like 


ch  mark 
hese  ex- 
be  inti- 
nt  of  the 


strnfified  rocks.  The  Ion?  and  narrow  ridgr?,  rarely 
risins?  more  ihan  20(10  \'vv\  above  ibe  valleys,  and  usu- 
ally not  more  than  half  that  beiirlif,  are  broken  iierc 
and  there  by  transverse  (issures,  wbieh  "j^ive  passage  to 
rivers,  and  bv  one  of  which  the  .Schuylkill  flows  out  at 
Heading.  The  stratu  are  most  disturbed  on  the  south- 
eastern llank  of  the  mountain  chain,  where  we  first 
entered,  and  they  become  less  and  less  broken  and  in- 
clined as  they  extend  westward. 

After  passing  several  belts  of  the  inferior  fossiliferous 
ptratn.  We  came  to  (he  Anthracite  coal-measures  of 
Pottsvillo  on  tlu;  .Schuylkill.  Here  I  was  agreeably 
surprised  to  see  a  nourishing  manufacturing  town  with 
the  tall  chimn<'ys  of  nnn)erous  furnaces,  binning  night 
and  day,  yet  quite  free  from  smoke.  Leaving  this  cljur 
atmosphere,  and  going  down  into  one  of  the  mines,  it 
was  a  no  less  pleasing  novelty  to  find  that  we  could 
liandle  the  coal  without  soiling  our  fingers.  The  slow 
combustion  of  anthracite  can  be  overcome  by  a  strong 
current  of  air,  not  only  in  large  furnaces,  but  by  aid  of 
a  blower  in  the  fire-places  of  private  dwellings,  and  its 
drying  efCcci  on  the  air  of  a  room  may  be  counteracted 
by  the  evaporation  of  water.  As  managed  by  the 
Americans,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  preferring  its  use, 
in  spite  of  the  occasional  stove-like  heat  produced  by  it, 
to  that  of  bituminous  coal  in  London,  coupled  with  the 
penalty  of  living  constantly  in  a  dark  atmosphere  of 
smoke,  which  destroys  om*  furniture,  dress,  and  gar- 
dens, blackens  our  public  buildings,  and  renders  clean- 
liness impossible. 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  Pottsville,  there  are  no  less 
thnn  thirteen  seams  of,anthracite  coal,  srveral  of  which 
are  more  than  two  yards  thick.     Some  of  the  lowest 


i 

1      i 

:! 

I  .■ 


t  , 


68 


VAST    SEAM    OF    ANTHRACITE. 


Chai.  it 


ii:ij 


VI 


II'    t' 


of  these  alternate  with  wliite  sprits  and  a  coiiG^lomerate 
of  coarser  texture  than  I  had  ever  seen  in  any  produc- 
tive coal-measures,  some  of  the  pehbles  of  (luartz  being 
of  the  size  of  a  hen's  egg-.  1  was  curious  to  know 
whether  the  Stigmariai  would  be  found  here  in  the  un- 
derclays,  as  at  Blossberg  before-mentioned,  situated  120 
miles  to  the  westward.  It  was  easy  to  ascertain  the 
fact,  for  several  of  the  coal  seams,  from  eight  to  ten 
feet  thick,  were  quarried  in  the  open  air,  and  the  strata 
being  vertical,  a  void  space  was  left  after  the  removal 
of  the  fuel,  like  a  straight  open  fissme,  in  whicli  we 
could  walk,  and  see,  in  the  wall  on  the  one  side,  a 
stratum  originally  above,  and  on  the  other,  that  which 
had  been  immediately  below  the  coal.  On  the  former, 
or  what  is  usually  termed  the  roof,  were  shales  with 
distinct  impressions  of  ferns ;  among  others,  the  British 
species  Ptcopteris  lonc/iifica  and  Ncitropteris  cor- 
ddLdi  together  with  trunks  and  stems  of  tSigillarla^ 
Lapidodendrou^  and  Calamiles  ;  while  on  tlie  oppo- 
site or  south-eastern  side,  was  an  underclay  with  nu- 
merous Stigmariae,  often  several  yards,  and  even  in 
soiiie  cases  thirty  feet  long,  with  their  leaves  or  rootlets 
attached. 

In  this  coal-field,  as  in  all  the  others  hitherto  ob- 
served in  America,  particular  seams  of  coal  are  found 
to  be  far  more  persistent  than  the  accompanying  beds 
of  shale,  sandstone,  or  lime^tane.  As  we  proceeded 
from  Pottsville,  by  Tamacpia,  to  the  Lehigh  Sununit 
Mine,  we  found  the  beds  of  grit  and  shale  gradually  to 
thin  out,  so  that  several  be;'s  of  aiuhracite,  at  first 
witlely  separated,  were  i)rought  uf'arer  and  nearer  to- 
getiier,  until  they  united,  and  formed  one  mass  about 
fifty  feet  thick,  without  any  greater  interpolated  matter 


Chap.  iv. 


GUKAT    THICKNESS    OF    STRATA. 


69 


ihnii  two  tlr-Ji  liiyors  of  day  witii  SfigiiKuiir.  At  Maurh 
Cliiink,  or  tlio  Ij^-ur  -Mouiit;iiii,  this  ronKukable  bed  of 
aiitliiuciu;  is  (luanied  in  iIk'  open  air,  aiul  icinovod 
hoilily  lo'^eilit'i-  willi  the  overly iiiij;-  .saml-tone,  Ibrly  feet 
thick,  thesuMuuitof  the  liill  being  '-scalped,'  as  one 
of  the  nuners  expressed  it.  The  vc^jfetable  matter, 
which  is  represented  by  this  enormous  mass  of  anthra- 
cite, must,  before  it  was  condensed  by  pressure  and  tiie 
discharge  of  its  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  other  volatile 
ingre(hents,  have  been  probably  between  2(K)  and  300 
feet  thick.  Tlie  accunudation  of  such  a  thickness  of 
tiie  remains  of  plants,  so  unmixed  with  earthy  ingre- 
dients, would  be  most  dillicult  to  explain  on  the  hypo- 
thesis of  their  having  been  drifted  into  the  place  they 
now  occupy ;  but  it  becomes  intelligible  if  we  suppose 
them  to  have  grown  on  the  spot.  Wlu'tiier  we  regard 
the  Stigmariic  as  roots,  accoriling  to  the  opinion  of  M. 
Adolphe  Brongniart  and  Mr.  Oinney,  or  embrace  the 
doctrine  of  their  being  a^piatic  plants,  no  one  can  doubt 
that  they  at  least  ar<;  fossili-jed  on  the  very  spot  where 
they  grew  ;  and  as  all  agree  that  they  arc  nut  niarinc 
plants,  tliey  go  far  to  establish  the  doctrine  of  tlic 
mowth  iiL  a'du  of  the  materials  of  the  overlvintir  coal 


seams 


riie  prodigious  thickness  of  tlie  carboniferous  ro<"k3 
in  this  part  of  the  Appalachian  chain,  is  in  harmony 
with  the  theory  already  alluded  to,  which  re([uires  the 
repeated  sinking  down  of  many  si»ccessive  terrestrial 
surfaces,  allowing  an  indefmite  quantity  of  sediment  to 
be  superimjx)sed  vertically  in  one  continuous  series  of 
beds.  The  surveys  of  Pennsylvania  and  A  irginia  show 
that  the  south-east  was  the  qujuter  whence  the  coarser 
materials  of  the  carboniferous  rocks  were  derived,  and 


i-  :! 

f 


rl 


^?i 


70 


VAST    EXTENT    OP 


Chap,  it 


|lS' 


•:;■!. 


there  are  proofs  fliat  tlic  ancient  land  lay  in  (bat  direc- 
tion. Tlie  conglomerate  which  forms  the  general  base 
of  the  coal-mea.sures  is  1500  feet  thick  in  the  8harp 
]Mountain.  where  I  saw  it,  near  Pottsville ;  whereas  it 
has  only  a  thickness  of  500  feet,  about  thirty  miles  to 
the  north-west,  and  dwindles  gradually  away  when 
followed  still  farther  in  the  same  direction,  till  its  thick- 
ness is  reduced  to  thirty  feet.  {Rogers.  Trans.  Assoc. 
Anier.  GeoL,  1810 — 42,  p.  410.)  The  limestones,  on 
the  other  hand,  of  the  coal-measures,  augment  as  we 
trace  them  westward.  Similar  observations  have  been 
made  in  regard  to  the  Silurian  and  Devonian  forma- 
tions in  New  York ;  the  sandstones  and  all  the  me- 
chanically-formed rocks  thinning  out  as  they  go  west- 
ward, and  the  limestones  thickenijig,  as  it  were,  at  their 
expense.  It  is,  therefore,  clear  that  the  ancient  land 
was  to  the  east ;  the  deep  sea,  with  its  banks  of  coral 
and  shells,  to  the  west. 

I  at  fust  supposed  that  some  deception  might  have 
arisen  res{)(cling  the  alleged  thickness  of  the  older  fcs- 
siliferous  rocks  of  the  Appalachians,  owing  to  the  dis- 
locations and  inverted  position  of  the  beds,  but  I  was 
soon  convinced  that  due  regard  had  ])een  paid  to  the 
apparent  repetitions  caused  by  these  disturbances,  and 
^  have  little  doubt  that  those  Silurian  and  Devonian 
strata,  which  do  not  exceed  in  their  aggregate  thick- 
ness a  mile  and  a  half  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
acquire  more  than  three  times  that  thickness  in  the 
Pennsvlvanian  Allcghanics. 

A  few  dnys'  observation  of  the  identity  of  the  fossil 
plant>,  and  the  relative  position  of  t!ic  antlua'-it.e,  satis- 
lied  me  that  it  was  of  the  same  age  as  the  bituminous 
coal  which  I  liad  seen  at  Blossberg.   This  opinion  was, 


Cjiap. 


*|J  V 


4 


Chap.  iv. 


THE    APPALACHIAN    COAL-FIELD. 


n 


I  believe,  first  promulgated  by  Mr.  Fcatherstonehaugh 
ill  1831,  at  a  time  when  many  geologists  were  disposed 
to  assifu  a  higher  antiquity  to  the  anthracite  than  to 
the  bituminous  coal-measures  of  ihe  United  States 
The  recent  surveys  have  now  established  tliis  fact  be- 
yond all  question,  and  hence  it  becomes  a  subject  of 
o-reat  interest  to  inquire  how  these  two  kinds  of  fu(?l, 
originating  as  they  did  from  precisely  the  same  species 
of  plants,  and  formed  at  the  same  porioil,  should  have 
l>ecome  so  very  dillerent  in  their  chemical  composition. 
In  the  first  place,  I  may  mention  that  the  anthracite 
coal-measures  above  alluded  to,  occurring  in  the  eastern 
or  most  disturbed  part  of  the  Appalachian  chain,  arc 
fragments  or  outliers  of  the  great  continuous  coal-fu^ld 
of  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  Ohio,  which  occurs 
about  forty  miles  to  tlie  westward.  This  coal-field  is 
remarkable  for  its  vast  area,  for  it  is  descriijed  by  Pro- 
fessor H.  D.  Rogers  as  extending  continuously  from 
N.  E.  to  S.  W.,  f  >r  a  distance  of  720  miles,  its  greatest 
width  being  about  180  miles.  On  a  moderate  estimate 
its  superficial  area  amounts  to  03.000  sfjuare  miles.  It 
extends  from  the  northern  border  of  Pennsylvania  as 
far  south  as  near  Huntsville  in  Alabama. 

This  coal  formation,  before  its  original  limits  were 
reduced  by  denudation,  must  have  measured,  at  a 
reasonable  calculation,  900  miles  in  length,  and  in  some 
places  more  than  200  miles  in  breadth.  By  reference 
to  the  section  (fig  5.,  p.  74.),  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
strata  of  coal  are  horizontal  to  the  westward  of  the 
mountain  in  the  region  d,  e,  and  become  more  and 
more  inclined  and  folded  as  we  proceed  eastward. 
Now  it  is  invariably  found,  as  Professor  II.  D.  Rogers 
has  shown  by  chemical  analysis,  that  (he  coal  is  most 


n 


i 


\'\ 


1  )  !  »l 


It 


,!l 


!^, 


•.|; 


III 


iJi 


fl 


^41 


3^ 


DEniTUMINIZATION    OF    COAL. 


Chap,  i? 


m 


K'fi 


■i.jir 


:lfi 


bituminous  towards  it>  vost(M-n  limit,  wlioro  it  remains 
level  and  uul>roketi,  anil  that  it  becomes  pioipessively 
debit uminizcd  as  we  travel  south-eastward  towards  the 
more  bent  and  distorted  rocivs.  Thus,  on  the  Oh.io, 
tlie  |)ro|)ortion  of  hydrog-en,  oxygen,  and  other  volatile 
matters,  rang'es  from  forty  to  fifty  per  r^Mit,  Eastward 
of  tliis  Unc,  on  the  Mononjjahela,  it  still  approaches 
forty  per  cent.,  where  the  strata  begin  to  experience 
some  gentle  flexures.  On  entering  the  Alleghany 
JNlountains,  where  the  distinct  anticlinal  axes  begin  to 
show  themselves,  but  before  tiie  dislocations  are  con- 
siderable, the  volatile  matter  is  generally  in  the  propor- 
tion of  eighteen  or  twenty  per  cent.  At  length,  when 
we  arrive  at  some  insulated  coal-fields  (5'.  fig.  5.)  asso- 
ciated with  the  boldest  llexures  of  the  Appalachian 
chain,  where  the  strata  have  been  actually  turned  over, 
as  near  Pottsville,  we  find  the  coal  to  contain  only  from 
six  to  twelve  per  cent,  of  bitumen,  thus  becoming  a 
genuine  anthracite.  [Trans,  of  Ass.  of  Aincr.  GcoL, 
p.  470.) 

It  appears  from  the  researches  of  liicbig  and  other 
eminent  chemists,  that  when  wood  and  vegetable  mat- 
ter  are  buried  in  the  earth,  exposed  to  moisture,  and 
partially  or  entirely  excluded  from  the  air,  they  decom- 
pose slowly  and  evolve  carbonic  acid  gas,  thus  part- 
ing with  a  portion  of  their  original  ox\'gen.  By  this 
means,  thev  become  graduallv  converted  into  lignite  or 
wood-coal,  which  contains  a  larger  proportion  of  h}^- 
drogen  than  wood  does.  A  continuance  of  decomposi- 
tion changes  this  lignite  into  common  or  bituminous 
coal,  chiefly  by  the  disciiarge  of  carburctted  hydrogen, 
or  tlic  gas  by  which  we  illumine  our  streets  and  houses. 
According  to  Bischofl',  tlie  inflammable  gases  which 


Chap,  r. 


THE    APrALACIIIAN    CHAIN. 


ra 


nrc  nlwaj's  p^cnpinr::^  from  niinoral  coal,  and  are  so  often 
ihc  cans!'  of  (atal  accidents  in  mines,  always  contain 
.•:i!!)'.))iic  aci;!,  carhuretted  hydroiron,  nitrogen,  and  oli- 
fiaiit  jrHH.  The  diseiijagement  of  all  these  gradually 
tiMii-^forjus  oidiiiary  or  hitinninons  coal  into  anthracite, 
to  wliicli  the  various  names  of  splint,  coal,  glance  coal, 
ciilii).  and  many  others,  have  heen  given. 

V.'c  have  ^^rvn  that,  in  Uk  Appalachian  coal-field, 
there  is  an  intimate  connection  hetween  the  exU-^nt  to 
wiii.-h  the  coal  has  j)arted  with  its  gaseous  contents, 
and  the  amount  of  disturhance  which  the  strata  have 
undergone.  The  coincidence  of  these  phenomena 
may  !)e  attributed  partly  to  the  greater  facility  alford- 
ed  far  the  escape  of  volatile  matter  where  the  fractu- 
ring of  the  rojks  had  produced  an  infinite  number  of 
cracks  and  crevices,  and  also  to  the  heat  of  the  gases 
and  water  penctiating  these  cracks,  when  the  great 
movcmeiifs  took  place,  which  have  rent  and  folded  the 
Appalachian  strata.  It  is  well  known  that,  at  the  pres- 
ent j)eriod,  thermal  waters  and  hot  \apours  burst  out 
from  the  earth  dining  earthquakes,  and  these  would 
not  fail  to  promote  the  disengagenx^nt  of  volatile  mat- 
ter from  the  carboniferous  roc'i. 


+ 


■■  I 


>! 


-m 


•. 


^'U 


'•■  t 


;    I 


h\ 

i 


M 


Ti 


Stuucture  and  Origin  of  ti-k  Appalachian 

Chain. 


The  subjects  discussed  in  the  preceding  pages,  lead 
me  naturall}'  to  say  something  respecting  the  structure 
of  the  Appalachian  chain,  and  its  geoi  rjfical  relations 
to  the  less  ele\ated  reixions  east  and  west  of  it.  The 
annex'^d  ideal  section  (lig.  5.),  to  which  I  shall  have 
frecjuently  occasion  to  refer  in  the  sequel,  will  give  some 
notion  of  the  principal  phenomena,  omitting  a  great 


1, 1. 1 


'■  ;i 


74 


GEOLOGICAL    SECTION. 


Chap,  it 


im 


:i         I 


<<  a  u  n  w 


K>-C4;>. »  eg. 3 

cj  fc-  y  t?  y  "^  i  ,t'  rt 
S  cu^  >  c  i:  *_& 

i-^  «  M  'S"       lO  lO  ih 


I  , 


Chap.  iv. 


THE    APPALACHIAN    CITATX. 


75 


nmiiber  of  dctnik  Starting  IVoni  the  sjjores  of  die 
Atl;u»?ic,  on  the  easteru  siilc  of  tlie  ConliiKiit,  \vc  (irst 
com'!  to  a  low  region  (a,  b),  wincli  was  calletl  the  allu- 
vial plain  by  the  lu'st  geographers.  It  !?<  occupie  I  by 
tertiary  and  cretaceous  strata  ncLirly  iiori/-ont:il,  and 
containing  in  general  no  hard  and  solid  rocks,  and  is 
usu:Ulv  not  more  than  from  50  to  lUI)  feet  high,  from 
New  Jersey  to  Virginia.  In  these  states  this  zone 
is  not  many  leagues  in  breadth,  but  it  acipiires  a 
breadth  of  lUO  and  150  miles  in  the  Southern  State-, 
and  a  heiglu  of  several  hundred  feet  towards  its  west- 
ern limits.  The  next  belt,  from  u  to  c,  consists  of 
granitic  rocks  (hypogenc),  chielly  gneiss  and  mica- 
schist,  covered  occasionally  with  unconforina!)le  red 
sandstone.  No.  4  (New  Red  ?),  remarkable  for  its  orni- 
thicnites.  Sometimes  also  this  sandstone  rests  on  the 
edges  of  the  disturbed  paleozoic  rocks  (as  seen  in  the 
Section).  The  region  (b,  c),  sometimes  called  the  "At- 
lantic Slope,"  corresponds  nearly  in  average  width  with 
the  low  and  ilat  })lain  (a,  b),  and  is  characterised  by 
hills  of  moderate  height,  contrasting  strongly,  in  tlieir 
rounded  siiape  and  altitude,  with  the  long,  steep,  and 
lofty  parallel  ridges  of  the  Alleghany  moiuUains.  The 
out-crop  of  the  strata  in  these  ridges,  like  the  two  belts 
of  hypogene  and  newer  rocks  (a.  b,  and  b,  c),  above 
alluded  to,  when  laid  down  on  a  geological  map,  e'.- 
hibit  long  stripes  of  dilFerent  colours,  running  in  a 
N.  E.  and  S.  W.  direction,  in  the  same  way  as  the 
lias,  chalk,  and  other  secoTMiary  formations  in  the  mid- 
dle and  eastern  half  of  England. 

The  narrow  and  parallel  zones  of  the  Appalachians 
here  mentioned  consist  of  strata,  folded  into  a  sucL-es- 
gion  of  convex  and  concave  llexures,  subsequently  laid 


i!  I 


.      \ 


m 


!ll  ! 


n 
t 


76 


STUUCTURE    AND    ORIGIN    OP 


ClIAP.   IV 


Chap. 


I*.  !* 


open  by  doini  l:iti')M.  Tlio  coiiij)onrnf  ^ock^;  arc  of 
great  tliickiicss,  all  rt'lcrahle  to  llio  Silurian,  nevoiiian, 
and  Carhoiiircroiis  foiinalioiis.  Tliero  is  no  |)riiui|)il 
or  (U'lilral  axis,  as  in  llie  Pyrenees  and  nunv  other 
cliains — no  nucleus  to  w  hicli  all  the  minor  ridLfes  con- 
fbrni  ;  hut  the  chain  consists  of  many  nearly  ccjual 
and  |)arallel  Ibldini^s,  havini,'  what  the  jreoloi^ists  term 
an  anticlinal  and  synclinal  arran![i:ement.  This  sys- 
U'.m  of  hills  extends,  jieoloi^ically  considered,  from  Ver- 
mont to  Alabama,  being'  more  than  lOOO  miles  long-, 
from  50  to  15(1  miles  broad,  and  varyiiig  in  height 
from  2000  to  0000  feet.  Sometimes  the  whole  assem- 
blage of  ridges  runs  perfectly  straight  for  a  distance  of 
more  than  50  miles,  after  which  all  of  them  wheel 
round  tog(!ther,  and  take  a  new  diieclion,  at  an  angle 
of  20  or  30  degrees  to  the  lirst. 

]Mr.  K.  C  Taylor  had  made  considerable  j)rogre?:s  in 
unravelling  the  structure  of  certain  portions  of  this 
chain,  before  the  commencement  of  the  State  Surveys 
of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  the  fornKU*  conducted 
by  ProferN<or  \V.  B.  Rogers,  the  latter  by  his  brother, 
Professor  11.  1).  Rogers,  both  aided  by  a  numerous 
corps  of  assistants.  To  these  elaborate  and  faithful 
surveys  W(;  owe  th(;  discovery  of  the  clue  to  the  general 
law  of  structure  prevailing  throughout  this  important 
range  of  mountains,  which,  however  simple  it  may  ap- 
pear w  hen  once  made  out  and  clearly  explained,  might 
lot]g  have  been  overlooked,  amidst  so  great  a  mass  of 
complicated  details.  It  appears  that  the  bending  and 
fnicture  of  the  beds  is  greatest  on  the  soutli-eastern  or 
Atlantic  side  of  the  chain,  and  the  strata  become  less 
and  less  disturbed  as  we  go  westward,  until  at  length 
they  regain  their  original  or  horizontal  position.     By 


rcfercl 
the  e;| 
the  A 
conscMi 
tJiemsj 
each  J 
archesl 
wester! 


In 


fl 


Chap.  iv. 


THE    APPALACHIAN    CHAIN. 


rr 


reference  to  the  section  {i\'^.  5.),  it  will  he  seen  that  on 
the  eastern  side,  or  on  (he  ri(l«;i's  ami  Iroiiiihs  nearest 
the  Atlantic,  the  south-eastern  dips  |  edoniinale,  in 
C()iise(|nence  ol  the  beds  havin<^  been  tblded  hack  ujmmi 
themselves,  as  in  i,  those  on  ihc  noith-western  side  ol" 
each  arch  having  been  inverted.  The  next  set  of 
arches  (such  as  /.•)  are  more  open,  each  having*  its 
western  side  steepest ;  the  next  (/)  opens  out  still  nioic 
widely,  the  next  (///)  still  more,  ami  this  continues  un- 
til we  arrive  at  tiie  low  and  level  part  of  the  A])|)alachi- 
iin  coal -Held  (d,  e). 

In  nature,  or  in  a  true  section,  the  nundxr  of  bend- 
ings  or  parallel  folds  is  so  much  greater  that  they  could 
not  be  expressed  in  a  diagram  wiihout  confusion.  It 
is  also  clear  that  large  quantities  of  rock  have  been  re- 
moved l)y  acjueous  action  or  denudalion,  as  will  apj}ear 
if  we  attempt  to  complete  all  the  curves  in  the  manner 
indicated  by  the  dotted  lines  at  i  and  A*. 

The  movements  which  imparted  so  uniform  an  order 
of  arrangement  to  this  v^ast  system  of  rocks  umst  have 
been  contemporaneous,  or  belonging  to  one  and  the 
same  scries,  di-pending  on  some  conmion  cause.  Their 
geological  date  is  unusually  well  ilefmed.  We  may 
declare  them  to  have  taken  place  after  the  deposition 
of  the  carboniferous  strata  (No.  5.),  and  before  the 
formation  of  the  red  sandstone  (No.  4.).  The  greatest 
distuibino;  and  denudino"  foice.^  have  evidently  been  ex- 
erted  on  the  south-eastern  side  of  the  chain,  and  it  is 
ht.Te  that  igneous  or  plutoni^  rocks  are  observed  to  have 
invaded  the  strata,  farming  dykes,  some  of  which  run 
for  miles  in  lines  parallel  to  the  main  tlirectiun  of  the 
Aj)});dachians,  or  N.N.E.  ml  S.S.W. 

According  to  the  theory  of  die  Professors  Rogers,  the 


I' 


t;: 


* 


1^ 


i 


I  i 


:il 


% 


'  it' 

m 
i 


i  ■'■ 


<'%m 


i»i  • 


7S 


STRiwrnn;   A.vn  oitKiix  of 


ClIAf    IV 


wavo-liko  llexiires,  jibove  iilliuird  'o.  nvo  explained  by 
sh|,}).)sinLf  the  htrut'i,,  when  in  a  plastic  state,  to  have 
rcstcil  on  a  wiilcly-e.vtoiuled  suifacir  of  Ihiid  lava,  and 
clastic  vapoiiiri  and  gases.  Tiie  hillowv  niovcnient  of 
this  siihtenanean  sea  of  melted  matter  im})arted  its 
luidulations  to  the  elastic  overlying  crust,  wiiich  was 
enid)led  to  retain  the  new  shaj)es  thus  given  to  it 
by  tiie  consolidation  of  the  liquid  matter  injected  into 
fissures.* 

For  my  own  part,  I  cannot  imagine  any  real  con- 
jicclion  hetwecn  the  great  parallel  undulations  of  the 
rocks  and  the  real  waves  of  a  subjacent  ocean  of  liquid 
matti3r,  on  which  the  bent  and  broken  crust  may  once 
have  rested.  That  there  were  great  lakes,  or  seas  of 
lava,  retained  by  volcanic  heat  for  ages,  in  a  Hquid 
state  beneath  the  Alleghanies,  is  highly  probable,  for 
the  simultaneous  eruptions  of  distant  vents  in  the 
Andes  leave  no  doubt  of  the  wide  subterranena  areas 
permanently  occupied  by  sheets  of  fluid  lava  in 
our  own  times.  It  is  also  consistent  with  what  we 
know  of  the  laws  governing  volcanic  action  to  assume 
that  the  force  operated  in  a  linear  direction,  for  we  see 
trains  of  volcanic  vents  breaking  out  for  hundreds  of 
miles  along  a  straight  line,  and  we  behold  long  parallel 
fissures,  often  filled  with  trap  or  consolidated  lava,  hold- 
ing a  straight  course  for  great  distances  through  rocks 
of  all  ages.  The  causes  of  this  pecuhar  mode  of  de- 
velopment are  as  yet  obscure  and  unexplained  ;  but 
the  exi  tence  of  long  narrow  ranges  of  mountains,  and 
of  great  faul  s  and  vertica  shifts  in  the  strata  prolonged 
for  great  distances  in  certain  directions,  may  all  be  re- 
sults of  the  same  kind  of  action.     It  also  accords  well 

*  Trans,  of  Ass.  of  Amer.  GeoL,  1840—2,  p.  515. 


Ciur.  IV. 


TIIL    APPALACHIAN    CHAIN. 


79 


A'ith  establishod  \\\cu  to  assume  that  the  solid  crust 
overlying  a  re:i^ioii  wlinrc  the  subterranean  heat  is  in« 
creu>iii!^  in  intensity,  hi^eonies  •gradually  upheaved, 
fractured,  and  dis'tentled,  the  lower  part  of  the  newly 
opened  fissures  l)ecoining  fdled  witli  fused  matter, 
which  soon  consolidates  and  crystallizes.  These  up- 
lifting- movements  may  be  propagated  along  narrow 
belts,  placed  side  by  side,  and  may  have  been  in  prog- 
ress simultaneously,  or  in  succession,  in  one  narrow 
zone  after  another. 

^Vhen  the  expansive  force  has  been  locally  in  opera- 
tion fur  a  long  period,  in  a  given  district,  there  is  a  ten- 
dency in  the  subterranean  heat  to  diminish  ; — the  vol- 
canic energy  is  spent,  and  its  position  is  transferred  to 
some  new  region.  Subsidence  then  begins,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  cooling  and  shrinking  of  subterranean 
seas  of  lava  and  gaseous  matter :  and  the  solid  strata 
collapse  in  obedience  to  gravity.  If  this  contraction 
take  place  along  narrow  and  parallel  zones  of  copniry, 
the  incumbent  llexible  strata  would  be  forced,  in  pro- 
portion as  they  were  let  down,  to  pack  themselves  into 
a  snmller  space.  «i3  they  conformed  to  the  circumfer- 
ence of  a  smaller  arc.  I'he  manner  in  which  undula- 
tions may  be  gradually  produced  in  pliant  strata  by 
subsidence  is  illustrated  on  a  small  scale  by  the  creejis 
in  coal-mines ;  there  both  the  overlying  ar^d  underlying 
shales  and  clays  sink  down  from  the  ceiling,  or  rise  up 
from  the  floor,  and  fdl  the  galleries  which  have  been 
left  vacant  by  the  abstraction  of  the  fuel.*  In  like 
manner  the  failure  of  support  arising  from  subterranean 
causes  may  enable  the  force  of  gravity,  though  origi 

*  See   "  Elements  of  Geologj',"  by  the   author.     2d  ed.  vol.  i.» 
p.  110.— Boston  cd.  vol.  i.  p.  108. 


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THE    APPALAf'IIIAX    CHAIN. 


Chap,  rr. 


nally  exerted  vertically,  to  bond  nnd  i^(|ucczc  tlie  rocka 
as  if  ihey  had  been  subjected  to  laJcral  pressure. 

"  Earthquakes  have  raised  to  ht'avoii  the  luunblc  valo, 
And  ^■ulph.s  the  mountain's  rni;:rhty  mass  outomh'd, 
And  wliero  l!i'  Atlantic  rolls,  wide  cci\tinent.s  have  bloom'd." 

In  ap])iying  these  hues  to  the  pliysical  revohitions  of 
the  territory  at  present  under  consideration,  we  must 
remember  that  the  continent  which  bloomed  to  the 
eastward,  or  where  the  Atlantic  now  rolls  its  wa\es 
(see  p.  70.),  was  anterior  to  the  origin  cf  the  carbonifer- 
ous strata  which  were  derived  from  its  ruins ;  wliereas 
the  elevation  and  subsidence  supposed  to  have  given 
rise  to  the  Appalachian  ridges  was  subsequent  to  the 
deposition  of  the  coal-measures.  But  all  these  great 
movements  of  oscillation  were  again  distinct  from  the 
last  upheaval  which  brought  up  the  whole  region  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  laying  dry  the  horizontal  New 
Red  Sandstone  (No.  4.,  fig.  5.),  as  well  as  a  great  part 
of,  if  not  all,  the  Appalachian  chain. 

The  larcfest  amount  of  denudation  is  found,  as  mijxhl 
have  been  expected,  on  the  south-eastern  side  of  the 
chain,  where  the  force  of  expansion  and  contraction,  of 
elevation  and  subsidence,  has  been  greatest.  The  llrsl 
set  of  denuding  operations  may  have  taken  place  when 
the  strata,  including  the  carboniferous,  were  first  raised 
above  the  sea;  a  second,  when  they  sank  again;  a 
third,  when  the  Red  Sandstone  (No.  4.),  after  it  had 
been  thrown  down  on  the  truncate;!  edges  of  the  older 
strata,  participated  in  the  waste.  The  orreat  extent  of 
solid  materials  thus  removed,  must  add,  in  no  small 
degree,  to  the  difliculty  of  restoring  in  imagir.ation  the 
successive  changes  which  have  occurred,  and  of  ac- 
counting  in  a  satisfactory  manner  for  the  origin  of  liils 
mountain  chain. 


tit 


n 


Chap.  V.         WOODED    RIDGES    OFV  ALLEGIIANIES. 


81 


CHAPTER  V. 

Wooded  Ridges  of  the  Alleghany  Mountain^. — German  Palois  in 
Pennsi/lrania. — Lehigh  Summit  Mine. — I'Jffncts  of  Ice  dnriuv  a 
Flood  on  the  Delawitre. — Election  of  a  Governor  at  Tieuti>n  and 
at  Philadelphia. — J )nrney  to  Djstnn. — Antmnnnl  Tints  of  the 
Foliage. — Btston  the  Seat  of  Commerce,  of  G  jcprnuisnt,  inid  of  a 
University. — Lectures  at  the  L-)well  Institute. — Lijlucnrc  of  oral 
Instruction  in  Literature  and  SrAence. — Fes  of  Fahlic  Lcttuers. 
— Educational  Funds  sunk  in  costly  Buildings. — Advantages  of 
anti-huilding  Clauses. — Blind  A ^iylnni. — Ltwell  Fuct'irics. — Na- 
tional Schools. — Equality  of  Sects. — Society  in  Boston. 

October  7.  1811. — The  steep  slopes,  as  well  as  the 
summits  of  the  lidges  in  the  anthracite  region  of  Penn- 
sylvania, are  so  densely  covered  witli  wood,  that  the 
surveyors  were  obliged  to  climb  to  the  of  tops  trees,  in 
order  to  obtain  general  views  of  the  country,  and  con- 
struct a  geographical  map  on  the  scale  of  two  inches  to 
a  mile,  on  which  they  laid  down  the  result  of  their  ge- 
ological observations.  Under  the  trees,  th(i  ground  is 
covered  with  tlic  RJtodnriotdroii.,  Kalmia  and  another 
evergreen  called  Sweet  Fern  [Comptonla  aspletiifolia), 
the  leaves  of  which  have  a  very  agreeable  odour,  re- 
sembling that  of  our  bog-myrtle  {Mi/ricaGale\  but 
fainter.  The  leaves  are  so  like  those  of  a  fern  or  Pteris 
in  form,  that  the  miners  call  the  impressions  of  the  fos- 
sil Pecopteris,  in  the  coal-shales  '•  sweet  fern." 

We  found  the  German  language  chielly  spoken  in 
this  mountainous  region,  and  preached  in  most  of  the 
churches,  as  at  Reading.  It  is  fast  degenerating  into 
a  patois,  and  it  is  amusing  to  see  many  Genuanized 
English  words  introduced  even  into  the  newspapers, 


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62 


EFFECTS    OF    it'K    DURING    A    FLOOD.        CllAp.  v. 


m  'n 


such  as  tirrnpci/c  for  turnpike,  fcnsc  for  i'cncc,Jlaiier 
for  Hour,  or  otlierts,  such  as  jail,  wliich  have  beeu  adopt- 
ed witliout  alteration. 

F'-oiu  the  Leiiigh  Sunmiit  Mine,  we  descended  for 
nii.f  miles  on  a  railway  impelled  by  our  own  weight, 
in  a  siuail  car  at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles  an  hour.  A  man 
sat  in  front  checking  our  speed  by  a  drag  on  the  steeper 
declivities,  and  oiling  the  wheels  without  stopping. 
The  coal  is  let  down  by  the  same  railroad,  sixty  mules 
being  employed  to  draw  up  the  empty  cars  every  day. 
In  the  evening  the  mules  themselves  are  sent  down 
standing  four  abreast,  and  feeding  out  of  mangers  the 
whole  way.  We  saw  them  start  in  a  long  train  of 
waggons,  and  were  told,  that  so  completely  do  they  ac- 
quire the  notion  that  it  is  their  ))usiness  through  life 
to  pull  weights  up  hill,  and  ride  down  at  their  ease, 
that  if  any  of  them  are  afterwards  taken  away  from 
the  mine  and  set  to  other  occupations,  they  willingly 
drag  heavy  loads  up  steep  ascents,  but  obstinately  re- 
fuse to  pull  any  vehicle  down  hill,  coming  to  a  dead 
halt  at  the  commencement  of  the  slightest  slope. 

The  general  effect  of  the  long  unbroken  summits  of 
the  ridges  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  is  very  monoto- 
nous and  unpicturesquc  :  but  the  scenery  is  beautiful, 
where  we  meet  occasionally  with  a  transverse  gorge 
tlirough  which  a  large  river  escapes.  After  visiting  the 
Beaver  Meadow  coal  field,  we  left  the  mountains  by  one 
of  these  openings,  called  the  Lehigh  («ap,  wooded  on 
both  sides,  and  almost  fdled  up  by  the  Tieliigh  Kiver,  a 
branch  of  the  Delaware,  the  banks  of  which  wc  now 
followed  to  Trenton  in  New  Jersey. 

On  our  way,  we  heard  nmch  of  a  disastrous  Hood 
which  occurred  last  spring  on  the  melting  of  the  snow 


H 


CnAP.  V. 


ELECTION   OP    GOVERNORS. 


83 


and  swept  away  several  bridges,  causing  the  loss  of 
many  lives.  I  observed  the  trees  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Delaware  at  an  elevation  of  about  twenty-four  feet 
above  the  present  surface  of  the  river,  with  their  bark 
worn  througli  by  the  sheets  of  ice  which  had  been  driv- 
en against  them.  The  canal  was  entirely  filled  up 
with  gravel  and  large  stones  to  the  level  of  the  towing 
path,  twenty  feet  above  the  present  level  of  the  stream, 
which  appeared  to  me  to  be  only  explicable  by  suppo- 
sing the  stones  to  have  been  frozen  into  and  carried  by 
the  floating  ice. 

Oct.  11. — Reaching  Trenton,  the  capital  of  New 
Jersey,  late  in  the  evening,  we  found  the  town  in  all 
the  bustle  of  a  general  election.  A  new  governor  and 
representatives  for  the  State  legislature  were  to  be 
chosen.  As  parties  are  nearly  balanced,  and  the  suf- 
frage universal,  the  good  order  maintained  was  highly 
creditable.  Processions,  called  "  parades,"  were  peram- 
bulating the  streets  headed  by  bands  of  music,  and  car- 
rying transparencies  with  Hghts  in  them,  in  which  the 
names  of  different  counties,  and  mottoes,  such  as  Union, 
Liberty,  and  Equality,  were  conspicuously  inscribed. 
Occasionally  a  man  called  out  with  a  stentorian  voice, 
"The  ticket,  the  whole  ticket,  and  nothing  but  the  tick- 
et," which  was  followed  by  a  loud  EngUsh  hurra, 
while  at  intervals  a  single  blow  was  struck  on  a  great 
drum,  as  if  to  imitate  the  firing  of  a  gun.  On  their 
tickets  were  printed  the  names  of  the  governor,  officers, 
and  members  for  whom  the  committee  of  each  party 
had  determined  to  vote. 

The  next  day  on  our  return  to  Philadelphia,  we 
(bund  that  city  also  in  the  ferment  of  an  election,  bands 
of  music  being  placed  in  open  carriages,  each  drawn 


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84 


JOURNEY    TO   BOSTON. 


Chap,  v 


by  four  horses,  and  each  horse  decorated  with  a  flag, 
attaclied  to  its  shoulder,  whicli  has  a  gay  etfect.  All 
day  a  great  bell  tolls  at  the  State  house,  to  reniirid  the 
electors  of  their  duties.  It  sounded  like  a  funeral ;  and 
on  my  inquiring  of  a  bystander  what  it  meant,  one  of 
the  democratic  party  answered,  "  It  is  the  knell  of  the 
whigs."  In  their  popular  addresses,  some  candidates 
ask  the  people  whether  they  will  vote  for  the  wliiga 
who  will  lay  on  new  taxes.  As  it  is  well  known,  that 
such  taxes  must  be  imposed,  if  the  dividends  on  the 
State  bonds  are  to  be  paid,  these  popular  appeals  are 
ominous.  The  rapid  fall  in  the  value  of  State  securi- 
ties shows  that  the  public  generally  have  no  confidence 
that  the  majority  of  the  electors  will  be  proof  against 
the  insidious  arts  of  these  demagogues. 

Oct.  14. — We  came  from  Philadelphia  by  New 
York  to  Boston,  300  miles,  without  fatigue  in  twenty- 
foLU"  hours,  by  railway  and  steam-boat,  having  spent 
three  hours  in  an  hotel  at  New  York,  and  sleeping 
soundly  for  six  hours  in  the  cabin  of  a  commodious 
steamer  as  we  passed  through  Long  Island  Sound. 
The  economy  of  time  in  travelling  here  is  truly  admi- 
rable. On  getting  out  of  the  cars  in  the  morning,  we 
were  ushered  into  a  spacious  saloon,  where  with  200 
others  we  sat  down  to  breakfast,  and  learnt  with  sur- 
prise, that,  while  thus  agreeably  employed,  we  had 
been  carried  rapidly  in  a  large  feny-boat  without  per- 
ceiving any  motion  across  a  broad  estuary  to  Provi- 
dence in  the  State  of  Rhode  Island. 

Many  trees  in  New  Jersey,  Connecticut,  and  Massa- 
chusetts, have  now  begim  to  assinne  tiieir  aulunmal 
tints,  especially  the  maples,  while  the  oaks  retain  their 
vi\dd  green  colour.     I  can  only  compare  the  brightness 


I  I 


ClIAP.    V. 


BOSTOX. 


85 


of  the  fculed  leave?-,  scarlet,  purple,  anil  yellow,  to  that 
of  tulips!.     It  is  now  the  Indian  sunnner,  a  season  of 
warm  sunny  weather,  which  often  succeeds  to  the  Ihst 
frost  and  rain,  a  time  which  the  Indians  employed  in 
hunting-  and  laying-  up  a  store  of  game  for  the  winter. 
Boston^  Oct.  11.  to  Dec.  3.   1841. — It  is  fortunati- 
that  Boston  is  at  once  a  llourishinf^  commercial  port, 
and  tiie  seat  of  the  best  endowed  university  in  Ameri- 
ca, for  Cambridge,  where  Harvard  College  is  situated, 
is  so  near,  that  it  may  be  considered  as  a  suburb  of  the 
inetropohs.     The  medical  lectures,  indeed,  are  delivered 
in    the   city,  where  the  great  liospitals  are  at  hand. 
The  mingling  of  the  professors,  both  htcrary  and  sci- 
ontiiic,  with  the  eminent  lawyers,  clergymen,  physicians, 
and  principal  merchants  of  the  place,  forms  a  socie<} 
of  a  superior  kind  ;  and  to  these  may  be  added  scvera 
persons,  who,  having  inherited  ample  fortunes,  liavf. 
successfully  devoted  their  lives  to  original  researches  in 
history,  and  other  departments.     It  is  also  a  political 
advantage  of  no  small  moment  that  the  legislature  as- 
sembles here,  as  its  members,  consisting  in  great  part 
of  small  proprietors  farmii^g  their  own  land,  are  thus 
brought  into  contact  with  a  community  in  a  very  ad- 
vanced state  of  civilisation,  so  that  they  are  under  the 
immediate  check  of  an  enhghtened  pubhc  opinion.     It 
is  far  more  usual  to  place  the  capital,  as  it  is  called,  in 
the  centre  of  the  State,  often  in  some  small  village  or 
town  of  no  importance,  and  selected  from  mere  geogra- 
phical consideratians,  which  might  well  be  disregarded 
in  a  coiuitry  enjoying  such  locomotive  facilities.     An 
innnense  sacrifice  is  then  required  from  those  men  of 
independent  fortune,  who,  for  patriotic  motives,  must 
leave  the  best  society  of  a  large  city,  to  spend  the  win- 

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86     LECTURES  AT  THE  LOWELL  INSTITUTE.    Chaf.  T. 

ter  in  some  remote  spot  in  the  discharge  of  public  du- 
ties. 

I  had  been  invited  when  in  England  by  Mr.  Lowell, 
trustee  and  director  of  a  richly  endowed  Uterary  and 
scientific  institution  in  tins  city,  to  deliver  a  course  of 
twelve  lectures  on  geology  during  the  present  autumn. 
According  to  the  conditions  of  the  be(|uest,  the  public 
have  gratuitous  admission  to  these  lectures;  but  by 
several  judicious  restrictions,  such  as  requiring  applica- 
tions for  tickets  to  be  made  some  weeks  before,  and 
compliance  with  other  rules,  the  trustee  has  obviated 
much  of  the  inconvenience  arising  from  this  privilege, 
for  it  is  well  known  that  a  class  which  pays  nothing  is 
irregular  and  careless  in  its  attendance.  As  the  num- 
ber of  tickets  granted  for  my  lectiues  amounted  to 
4500,  and  the  class  usually  attending  consisted  of  more 
than  3000  persons,  it  was  necessary  to  divide  them  into 
two  sets,  and  repeat  to  one  of  them  the  next  afternoon 
the  lecture  delivered  on  the  preceding  evening.  It  is 
by  no  means  uncommon  for  professors  who  have  not 
the  attraction  of  novelty,  or  the  advantage  which  I 
happened  to  enjoy,  of  coming  from  a  great  distance,  to 
command  audiences  in  this  institution  as  numerous  as 
that  above  alluded  to.  The  subjects  of  their  discourses 
are  various,  such  as  natural  history,  chemistry,  the  fine 
arts,  natural  theology,  and  many  others.  Among  my 
hearers  were  persons  of  both  sexes,  of  every  station  in 
society,  from  the  most  affluent  and  eminent  in  the  va- 
rious learned  professions  to  the  humblest  mechanics,  all 
well  dressed  and  observing  the  utmost  decorum. 

The  theatres  were  never  in  high  favour  here,  and 
most  of  them  have  been  turned  to  various  secular  and 
ecclesiastical    uses,   and   among    others    into   lecture 


Chap.  v.         INFLUENCE    OF    ORAL    INSTRUCTION. 


87 


roonig,  to  wliich  many  of  tlic  public  resort  for  aiiuise- 
ment  as  they  miglit  fjrnicrly  have  done  to  a  play,  after 
the  labours  of  the  clay  are  over.  If  the  selection  of 
teachers  be  in  good  hands,  institutions  of  this  kind  can- 
not fail  toexert  a  powerful  inlluence  in  improving  the  taste 
and  intellectual  condition  of  the  people,  especially  where 
college  is  quitted  at  an  early  age  for  the  business  of  ac- 
tive life,  and  where  there  is  always  danger  in  a  c(  in- 
mercial  community  that  the  desire  of  money-making 
may  be  carried  to  excess.  It  is,  moreover,  peculiarly 
desirable  in  a  democratic  state,  where  the  public  mind 
is  apt  to  be  exclusively  absorbed  in  politics,  and  in  a 
country  where  the  free  competition  of  rival  sects  has  a 
tendency  to  produce  not  indifferentism,  as  some  at 
home  may  be  disposed  to  think,  but  too  much  excite- 
ment in  religious  matters. 

We  are  informed  by  Mr.  Everett,  late  governor  of 
Massachusetts  (since  minister  of  the  U.  S.  in  England), 
that  before  the  existence  of  the  Lowell  Foundation, 
twenty-six  courses  of  lectures  were  delivered  in  Boston, 
without  including  those  which  consisted  of  less  than 
eight  lectures,  and  these  courses  were  attended  in  the 
aggregate  by  about  13,500  persons.  But  notwithstand- 
ing the  popularity  of  this  form  of  instruction,  the 
means  of  the  literary  and  scientific  institutions  of  the 
city  were  wholly  inadequate  to  hold  out  a  liberal  and 
certain  reward  to  men  of  talent  and  learning.  There 
were  some  few  instances  of  continuous  courses  deliver- 
ed by  men  of  eminence ;  but  the  task  more  conmionly 
devolved  upon  individuals  who  cultivated  the  art  of 
speaking  merely  to  become  the  vehicles  of  second- 
hand information,  and  who  were  not  entitled  to  speak 


li 


ii:*'! 


<   H 


n 


•  Hi 


mi 


i 


1 


.HI 


u 


!'■■ 


■ryh 


■:.:r,i 


88 


INFLUENCE  OF  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 


CiUP.  V 


l|!|« 


with   aiitlioiily,  mid  from  the   liihicss   of   tlicir  own 
knowkvlgc* 

Tin;  ricli  \\  ho  have  had  a  liberal  cchication,  wlio 
know  how  to  select  the  hest  i)ooks,  and  can  allord  to 
j)nrchar:e  them,  who  can  retreat  into  the  (juiet  of  their 
lihrari(.'s  hom  the  noi.se  of  their  children,  and,  if  they 
pleasie,  obtain  the  aid  of  private  tnition,  may  doubt  the 
utility  of  public  lectures  on  the  fine  arts,  history,  and 
the  physical  sciences.  But  oral  instruction  is,  in  fact, 
the  ojily  means  by  which  the  great  mass  of  the 
niiddlini:;  and  lower  classes  can  have  their  tiiou"hts 
turned  to  these  subjects,  and  it  is  the  fault  of  the  lii^h- 
er  classes  if  the  information  they  receive  be  unsound, 
and  if  the  business  of  the  teacher  be  not  liekl  in  high 
honour.  The  whole  body  of  the  clergy  in  every  coun- 
try, and,  under  popular  forms  of  government,  the 
leading  politicians,  have  been  in  all  ages  convinced  that 
they  must  avail  themselves  of  this  method  of  teaching, 
if  they  would  iidluence  both  high  and  low.  No  the- 
ological dogma  is  so  abstruse,  no  doctrine  of  political 
economy  or  legislative  science  so  ditricult,  as  to  be 
deemed  unfit  to  be  preached  from  the  pulpit,  or  incul- 
cated on  ttie  hustings.  The  invention  of  printing,  fol- 
lowed by  the  rapid  and  general  dispersion  of  tlie  cheap 
daily  newspaper,  or  the  religious  tract,  have  been  by 
no  means  permitted  to  supersede  the  instrumentahty  of 
oral  teaching,  and  the  powerful  sympathy  and  excite- 
ment created  by  congregated  numbers.  If  the  leading 
patrons  and  cultivators  of  literature  and  physical  science 
neglect  this  ready  and  efficacious  means  of  interesting 
the  multitude  in  their  pursuits,  they  are  wanting  to 


•  See  «•  Everett's  Memoir  of  John  Lowell."     Boston,  1840. 


*JB,i 


Chap.  v.      FUNDS    SINK    IN    CoSTLV    HUILDINGS.         89 

tlH'insclvi's,  and  lifivo  no  right  to  (;ojiij)Iaia  of  the  apa- 
thy or  iiidilli'R'ncc  of  tlie  piihlic. 

To  obtain  the  services  of  oniiiicnt  men  eng-aii^jul 
in  oriijinal  researcliees,  for  th(;  delivery  of  systematic 
courses  of  lectures,  is  impo.-sihle  without  the  commjind 
of  much  larjn^er  fluids  than  are  usually  devoted  to  this 
olijtct.  A\'hen  it  is  stated  that  the  i'cv:^  at  the  liuweil 
Institute  at  Boston  are  on  a  scale  more  than  three 
times  higher  than  tiie  remuneration  awarded  to  the 
best  literary  and  scientific  public  lecturers  in  London,  it 
will  at  first  be  thought  liopelesd  to  endea\(jur  (o  cany 
similar  plans  into  execution  in  otlier  large  cities,  w  he- 
tlier  at  home  or  in  the  United  States.  In  reahty,  iiow- 
ever,  the  sum  beciueatlied  by  the  late  Mr.  John  Lowell 
for  his  foundation,  though  numificent,  was  by  no 
means  enormous,  not  much  cxceedin<^  7(1,0017.,  which, 
according'  to  the  usual  fate  awaiting  donations  for  edu- 
cational objects,  would  have  been  all  swallowed  up  in 
the  erection  of  costly  buildings,  after  which  the  learned 
would  be  invited  to  share  the  scanty  leavings  of  the 
'•  Committee  of  Taste,''  and  the  merciless  architect, 
"relit|uias  Danaitm  atque  innnitis  Achillei."  But  in 
the  present  case,  the  testator  provided  in  his  will  that 
not  a  single  dollar  should  be  spent  in  brick  and  mortar, 
in  consec|uence  of  which  proviso,  a  spacious  room  was 
at  once  hired,  and  the  intentions  of  the  donor  carried 
immediately  into  eficct,  without  a  years  delay. 

If  there  be  any  who  imagine  that  a  donation  might 
be  so  splendid  as  to  render  an  anti-building  clause  su- 
pcrfiuous,  let  them  remember  the  liistory  of  the  Ctirard 
bequest  in  Philadelphia.  Half  a  million  sterling,  w  ilh 
the  express  desire  of  the  testator  that  the  expenditure 
on  architectural  ornament  should  be  moderate !     Yet 


i   (. 


ii 


■f' 


1 


m 


1 


m 

m 

i  -I  ■ 


1' 

I 

^     '      ':'it> 

i\ 

',  y\'^ 

i  ■ 

IS 

iliM 

90 


SINKING    OF    EDUCATIONAL    FUNDS         CilAP.  V. 


til; 


|ilV- 


tluH  vast  Sinn  is  so  noailv  ronsninod,  that  it  is  iloiiblfiil 
wlhMlicr  tlic  icnKiiiiin'j;"  funds  will  siillico  for  the  (.-(nn- 
plction  of  llie  palnci;- splcndiil,  intlccd,  luit  cxtronKdy 
ill-fifted  for  a  school-! lonso  !  It  is  cvidciil  that  wIumj  a 
passion  so  stroni(  as  that  fiv  l)nil(lin!j;"  is  to  ho  icsiritt'd, 
•:otal  al)stin<uicc  alono,  as  in  the  case  of  spiritnons  li- 
.juors,  will  prove  an  adejpiate  safci^-uard.  In  (lie  "old 
country,"  tlie  same  fatal  propensity  has  stood  in  the 
way  of  all  the  most  spirited  elVorts  of  modern  times  to 
estahlish  and  endow  new  institutions  for  the  dilfusion  of 
knowledg<\  It  is  well  known  that  the  sum  expended 
in  the  purchase  of  the  ground,  and  in  the  erection  of 
that  part  of  University  College,  liondon,  the  exterior  of 
which  is  nearly  complete,  exceede:!  10(),()()<)/.,  one-third 
of  which  was  spent  on  the  portico  and  dome,  or  the 
purely  ornamental,  the  rooms  under  the  dome  having 
remained  useless,  and  not  even  fitted  up  at  the  expira- 
tion of  fifteen  years.  When  the  professor  of  chemistry 
enquired  for  the  chimney  of  his  laboratory,  he  was  in- 
formed that  there  was  none,  and  to  remove  the  defect,  a 
flue  w^as  run  up  which  encroached  on  a  handsome 
staircase,  and  destroyed  the  symmetry  of  tlie  architect's 
design.  Still  greater  was  the  dismay  of  the  anaiomical 
professor  on  learning  that  his  lecture  room  was  to  con- 
form to  the  classical  model  of  an  ancient  theatre,  de- 
signed for  the  recitation  of  Greek  plays.  Sir  Charles 
Bell  remarked  that  an  anatomical  theatre,  to  be  perfect, 
should  approach  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  shape  of  a 
well,  that  every  student  miglit  look  down  and  see  dis- 
tinctl}'^  the  subject  under  demonstration.  At  a  consider- 
able cost  th<?  room  was  altered,  so  as  to  serve  the  ends 
for  which  it  was  wanted. 
The  liberal  sums  contributed  by  the  public  for  the 


CllAP.    V. 


IX    COSTF.Y    I'.riLDINCIS. 


91 


foundation  of  a  rival  collt'Lro  wen;  rxpcndod  in  like 
nuinncr  lonir  before  the  academical  l)ody  came  into  (!\- 
istence.  AVlien  the  j)iofrssor  of  chemistry  at  King's 
CoUeire  asked  for  his  laboratory,  he  was  told  it  had 
been  entirely  for«]cotlen  in  the  plan,  but  that  he  mii^ht 
take  the  kitchen  on  the  floor  below,  and  by  ingenious 
niachincry  carry  up  his  appaiatus  for  illustrating  ex- 
periments, through  a  trap  d(x:>r  into  an  upper  story, 
where  his  lecture  room  was  placed. 

Still  these  collegiate  buildings,  in  support  of  which 
the  public  came  forward  so  liberally,  were  left,  like  the 
Girard  College,  half  Ihiished ;  whereas,  if  the  same 
funds  had  been  devoted  to  the  securing  of  teachers  of 
high  acquirements,  station,  character,  and  celebrity; 
and  if  rooms  of  moderate  dimensions  had  been  at  first 
hired,  while  the  classes  of  pupils  remained  small,  a 
generation  would  not  have  been  lost,  the  new  Institu- 
tions would  have  risen  more  rapidly  to  that  high  rank 
which  they  are  one  day  destined  to  attain,  and  testa- 
mentary bequests  would  have  flowed  in  more  copiously 
for  buildings  well  adapted  to  the  known  and  ascertain- 
ed wants  of  the  establishment.  None  would  then 
g^rudge  the  fluted  column,  the  swelling  dome,  and  the 
stately  portico ;  and  literature  and  science  would  con- 
tinue to  be  the  patrons  of  architecture,  without  being 
its  victims. 

Prescott,  in  his  admirable  work  on  the  Conquest  of 
Mexico,  remarks,  when  discussing  the  extent  of  the 
ancient  Aztec  civilisation,  that  the  prog  ess  made  by 
the  Mexicans  in  astronomy,  and  especially  the  fact  of 
their  having  a  general  board  for  public  education  and 
the  flne  arts,  proves  more  in  favour  of  their  advance- 
ment, than  the  uoble  architectural  monuments  which 


m  • 


tii  ■. 


0 


'I! 


>   ! 


; '-1 


I  ■:; 


t'ii 


Ml 

I    ( ■ 


:'■  '  *• 


92 


BLIND    ASYLUM. 


CitAP.  ▼ 


"•^  I 


they  and  their  kiiuhetl  tribes  erected.  '•  Arcliitecture," 
he  observes,  "  i?;  a  sensual  gTalilicalion,and  adthesses  it- 
self to  the  eye  ;  it  is  the  lorin  in  which  tl:e  resources 
of  a  semi-civilised  people  are  most  likely  to  be  lavished."* 

Air.  John  Lowell,  a  native  of  jMassachusetts,  after 
having  carefully  studied  the  educational  establishments 
of  his  own  country,  visited  London  in  1833, and  having 
sojour'ied  there  some  months,  paying  a  visit  to  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cambridge  and  other  places,  he  pnrsued  his 
travels  in  the  hope  of  exploring  India  and  China.  On 
his  way  he  passed  through  Egypt,  where,  being  at- 
tacked, while  engaged  in  making  a  collection  of  an- 
ti(|uities,  by  an  intermittent  fever,  of  which  he  soon  af- 
terwards died,  he  drew  up  his  last  w  ill  in  1835,  anndst 
the  ruins  of  Thebes,  leaving  half  of  his  noble  fortune 
ibr  the  foundation  of  a  Literary  Institute  in  his  na- 
tive city.  It  has  already  appeared  how  admirably  he 
a[)preciated  the  exact  point  of  "semi-civilisation' 
which  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  had  then  attained  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic. 

I  spent  an  agreeable  day  at  Cambridge,  visiting  sev 
eral  of  the  piolessors  at  Harvard  University,  and  hear- 
ing one  of  them,  Henry  Ware,  author  of  "'^I''he  Chris- 
tian Character,''  a  work  reprinted,  and  nmcli  read  in 
England,  preach  a  sermon  in  the  College  Chapel.  Hif 
text,  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,"  led 
Isim  to  treat  of  self-love,  and  to  explain  how  this  natu- 
ral passion  might  be  indulged  to  any  extent,  provided,  in 
obedience  to  the  divine  connnandment,our  love  for  others 
increases  in  the  like  ratio.  I  Iiea.d  afterwards,  with 
great  regret,  of  the  death  of  this  able  and  amiable  man. 

In  liie  Blind  Asylum  I  saw  Laura  Bridgman,  now 

*  Conquest  of  Mexico,  vol.  i.  p.  155 


m 


Chap.  v. 


LOWELL    FACTOR  IKS. 


93 


i'i 


ill  her  twelflh  yen.)'.  At  llie  af^e  of  two  slio  losi  her 
rii-^^ht  aii-.l  hearing  by  a  Sv)Vcro  ilhien^,  but  ahlioiiLrh 
deaf,  (liinib,  aiitl  bliiil,  her  ininJ  lias  been  so  ad- 
vanccd  by  tlie  nietluKl  of  instiiictioii  j)uisiied  by  Dr. 
Howe,  that  she  shows  more  iiitellii,^ence  and  ([uickness 
of  feeling  than  many  girls  of  (he  same  age  who  are  in 
full  possession  of  all  their  senses.  The  excellent  re|)orf3 
of  Dr.  Howe,  on  the  gradual  development  of  her  mind, 
have  been  long  before  the  public,  and  have  recently 
been  cited  by  Mr.  Dickens,  together  v  ith  some  judicious 
observations  of  his  own.  Perhaps  no  one  of  the  cases 
of  a  somewhat  analogous  natine,  on  which  Dugald 
Stewart  and  others  have  philosophised,  has  f:irnished 
so  many  new  and  valuable  facts  illusl rating  the  extent 
to  which  all  intellectual  development  is  dependent  on 
the  instramentaUtv  of  the  senses  in  discerning  external 
objects,  and,  at  the  same  time,  in  how  small  a  degree 
the  relative  acuteness  of  the  organs  of  sense  determine 
the  moral  and  intellectual  superiority  of  the  individual. 
Nov.  15. — AVent  twenty-six  miles  to  the  north  of 
Boston,  bv  an  excellent  railway,  to  ihe  manufacturinsr 
town  of  Lowell,  which  has  sprung  up  entirely  in  the 
last  sixteen  years,  and  now  coiitains  about  20,000  in- 
habitants. The  mills  are  remarkably  clean,  and  well 
warmed,  and  almost  all  for  making  cotton  and  woollen 
goods,  which  are  exported  to  the  West.  The  young 
woujoii  from  the  age  of  eighteen  to  twenty-five,  who 
attend  to  the  spinning-wheels,  are  good-looking  and 
neatly  dressed,  chielly  the  daughters  of  New  llngland 
farmers,  sometimes  of  the  poorer  clergy.  They  b(?long, 
therefore,  to  a  very  diflerent  class  IVom  our  manufac- 
turing population,  an  1  after  remaining  a  few  years  m 
the  factory,  return  to  their  homes,  and  usually  marry. 


I>. 


]i\ 

i    ■'    ■    ! 

If- 

:'..r:;    ' 

,t. 

[%■' 

I 

:]■■ 

I 


•  •'1  i 


PI 


:*.; 


Il 


i'.i 


4 


't;i:li| 

i 

m 

It.  '"1 


■i 


,'.'(•- 


M 


.4 


i  '4 


1    .    AiJi 

ti  ay- 


, 


94 


LOWELL    FACTORIES. 


Chap.  ▼. 


We  are  told  that,  to  work  in  these  factories  is  consid- 
ered far  more  eligible  for  a  yoim^^  woman  than  domes- 
tic service,  as  they  can  save  more,  and  have  stated 
hours  of  work  (twelve  hours  a  day  !),  after  which  they 
are  at  hberty.  Their  moral  character  stands  very  high, 
and  a  girl  is  paid  off,  if  the  least  doubt  exists  on  that 
point.  Boarding-houses,  usually  kept  by  widows,  are 
attached  to  each  mill,  in  which  the  operatives  are  re- 
quired to  board ;  the  men  and  women  being  separate. 
This  regard  for  the  welfare  and  conduct  of  the  work- 
people when  they  arc  not  on  actual  duty  is  compara- 
tively rare  in  England,  where  the  greater  supply  of 
labour  would  render  such  interference  and  kind  su- 
perintendence nmch  more  practicable.  Still  we  could 
not  expect  that  the  results  would  be  equally  satisfactory 
with  us,  on  account  of  the  lower  grade  of  the  opera- 
tives, and  the  ignorance  of  the  lower  classes  in  Eng- 
land. In  regard  to  the  order,  dress,  and  cleanliness  of 
the  people,  these  merits  are  also  exemplified  in  the  rural 
districts  of  Lancashire,  and  it  is  usually  in  our  large 
towns  alone,  that  the  work  people  are  unhealthy  and 
squalid,  especially  where  a  number  of  tlie  poor  Irish 
live  crowded  together  in  bad  dwellings. 

The  factories  at  Lowell  are  not  only  on  a  great 
scale,  but  have  been  so  managed  as  to  yield  high  prof- 
it?*, a  fact  whicli  should  be  impressed  on  the  mind  of 
every  foreigner  who  visits  them,  lest,  after  admiring  the 
gentility  of  manner  and  dress  of  the  women  and  men 
employed,  he  should  go  away  with  the  idea  that  he 
bad  been  seeing  a  model  mill,  or  a  set  of  gJMitlemen  and 
ladies,  playing  at  factory  for  their  amusement.  There 
are  few  children  employed,  and  those  under  fifteen  are 
compelled  by  law  to  go  to  school  three  months  in  the 


I :  I*  ! 


Chap.  v. 


NATIONAL    SCHOOLS. 


95 


year,  under  penalty  of  a  heavy  fine.  If  this  regulation 
is  infringed,  informers  are  not  wanting,  for  there  is  a 
strong  sympathy  in  the  public  mind  with  all  acts  of 
the  legislature,  enforcing  education.  The  Bcstonians 
submit  to  pay  annually  for  public  instruction  in  their 
city  alone,  the  sum  of  30,000/.  sterling,  which  is  about 
equal  to  the  parliamentary  grant  of  this  year  (1811)  for 
the  whole  of  England,  while  the  sum  raised  for  free 
schools  in  the  state  this  year,  by  taxes  for  wages  of 
teachers,  and  their  board,  and  exclusive  of  funds  for 
building,  exceeds  100,000/.  sterling. 

The  law  ordains,  that  every  district  containing  fifty 
families  shall  maintain  one  school,  for  the  support  of 
which  the  inhabitants  are  required  to  tax  themselves, 
and  to  appoint  committees  annually  for  managing  the 
funds,  and  choosing  their  own  schoohnasters.  The 
Bible  is  allowed  to  be  read  in  all,  and  is  actually  read 
in  nearly  all  the  schools ;  but  the  law  prohibits  the  use 
of  books  "calculated  to  favour  the  tenets  of  any  par- 
ticular sect  of  Christians."  Parents  and  guardians  are 
expected  to  teach  their  own  children,  or  to  procure 
them  to  be  taught,  what  they  belie\e  to  be  religious 
truth,  and  for  this  purpose,  besides  family  worship  and 
the  pulpit,  there  are  Sunday-schools.  The  system 
works  well  among  this  church-building  and  church- 
going  population. 

As  there  is  no  other  region  in  Anglo-saxondom,  con- 
taining 750,000  souls,  where  national  education  has 
been  carried  so  far,  it  is  important  to  enquire  to  what 
combination  of  causes  its  success  is  mainly  to  be  attrib- 
uted. First,  there  is  no  class  in  want  or  extreme  pov- 
erty here,  partly  because  the  facility  of  migrating  to 
the  west,  for  those  who  are  without  employment,  is  so 


1 '  (s  >t 


n 


..  ■■;!:;': 


s  ■'! 


m 


■i  .1 


■     ■  i'  . 


V.  ;s 


i      ! 


•  ,111  ' 


-  ■  ;M 

'  '  •'  ;  4''  'ill 

■   M 

■  M 

I  ,■     :  m 


?'{ 


,fi 


la 


:.i ' 


06 


EQUALITY    OF    SECTS. 


CirAP.  ■? 


s^ront.  an!  also,  in  p:irt,  from  the  chock  to  inipiovi- 
(li'iit  \n  u-ri;ii;c^,  created  hy  the  hi^^h  sstiiiidaivl  of  liviiiir 
to  whioli  tlio  lo\ve:.4  \V'jr!v-|)eJi)lc  aspire,  a  stinJard 
which  education  i.-;  rai-;iii'^  hi'dier  and  hi^'her  from  day 
to  day.  Secondly,  1  have  often  iieard  politicians  of  op- 
posite parties  declare,  that  there  is  no  safety  for  the  re- 
pul)lic,  now  tliat  the  electoral  suffrage  has  hecn  so  much 
extended,  unless  every  exertion  is  made  to  raise  the 
moral  and  intellectual  condition  of  the  masses.  The 
fears  entertained  hy  the  rich  of  the  dangers  of  igno- 
ntnce,  is  the  only  good  result  which  I  could  discover 
tending  to  counterbalance  tiie  enormous  preponderance 
of  evil  arising  in  the  United  States  from  so  near  an  ap- 
proach to  imivorsal  suflrage.  Thirdly,  the  political 
and  social  equality  of  all  religious  sects, — a  blessing 
which  the  New  Englanders  do  not  owe  to  the  Ameri- 
can revolution,  for  it  was  fully  recognised  and  enjoyed 
under  the  supremacy  of  the  British  crown.  This  equal- 
ity tends  to  remove  the  greatest  stumbling  block,  still 
standing  in  the  way  of  national  instruction  in  Great 
Britain,  where  we  allow  one  generation  after  another 
of  the  lower  classes  to  grow  un  without  being  taught 
good  morals,  good  bchavioin*,  and  the  knowledge  of 
things  useful  and  ornamental,  because  we  cannot  all 
agree  as  to  die  precise  theological  doctrines  in  which 
they  are  to  be  brought  up.  The  religious  toleration  of 
the  different  sects  towards  each  other  in  Massachusetts 
is,  I  fear,  accompanied  by  as  little  Christian  charity  as 
at  home,  and  families  are  often  divided,  and  the  best 
relalions  of  private  life  disturbed,  by  the  bitterness  of 
sectarian  dogmatism  and  jealousy ;  l)ut,  politically,  all 
sects  are  ready  to  unite  against  the  encroachments 
of  any  other,  and  a  great  degree  of  religious  freedom 


:;* 


Chap.  v. 


THANKSGIVING-DAY. 


97 


i-^:  enjoyed,  in  consequence  of  there  being  no  sect  to 
which  it  is  nimentecl  to  belong",  no  consciences  sorely 
tcnij)ted  by  ambition  to  coalorni  to  a  more  fashionable 
creed. 

In  New  York  the  Roman  Catholic  priests  have  re- 
cently agitated  with  no  small  success  for  a  separate  al- 
lotment of  their  share  of  the  education  fund.  They 
have  allied  themselves,  as  in  the  Belgian  revolution, 
with  the  cxirouke  democracy  to  carry  their  point,  and 
may  materially  retard  the  general  progress  of  educa- 
tion. But  there  is  no  reason  to  apprehend  that  any 
one  sect  in  New  England  will  have  power  to  play  the 
same  game  ;  and  these  states  are  the  chief  colonizers 
of  the  West — g-eniis  cftttctbula,  by  the  rapidity  of 
wliosc  multiplication  and  progress  in  civilization  the 
future  prospects  of  the  whole  confederacy  of  republics 
will  be  mainly  determined. 

During  our  stay  at  Boston  the  citizens  gave  a  splen- 
did ball  to  the  Prince  de  Joinville,  and  the  Mayor  po- 
litely sent  us  tickets  of  invitation,  which  gave  ine  an 
opportunity  of  satisfying  myself  that  foreigners  have 
not  said  too  much  of  the  beauty  of  the  young  Ameri- 
can ladies.  In  general  I  was  so  much  occupied  wdth 
my  lectures,  or  in  communicating  to  the  Geological  So- 
ciety of  London  some  of  the  results  of  my  observations 
during  my  late  tour,  that  I  had  no  time  to  enter  hito 
society,  or  to  accept  the  hospitalities  of  the  inhabitants. 
As  soon  as  it  was  understood  that  I  wished  to  live  qui- 
etly, all  prcs=;ing  invitations  were  politely  abstained 
from  until  I  had  riiii^hed  my  course  of  lectures ;  and, 
afterwards,  when  I  foimd  it  necessary  to  decUnc  a  large 
number  of  them,  no  olTcnce  was  taken. 

The  t\venty-fif|.h  of  iXovcmber  was  appointed  by  the 

9 


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98 


SOCIETY    IN    BOSTON. 


Chap  v. 


lil^ 


Governor  of  the  Slate  to  be  what  is  here  called  Tlianks- 
giving-Day — an  institution  as  old  as  tlie  times  of  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers,  one  day  in  the  year  being  set  apart 
for  thanksgiving  for  the  mercies  of  the  past  year.  Az 
a  festival  it  stands  very  much  in  the  place  of  Chrir^tmas 
Day  as  kept  in  England  and  Germany,  being  always 
in  the  winter,  and  every  body  going  to  church  in  tlic 
morning  and  meeting  in  large  family  parties  in  the 
evening.  To  one  of  these  we  were  jyiost  kindly  wel- 
comed ;  and  the  reception  which  we  met  with  here  and 
in  the  few  families  to  which  we  had  letters  of  introduc- 
tion, made  us  entirely  forget  that  we  were  foreigners. 
Several  of  our  new  acquaintances  indeed  had  travelled 
in  England  and  on  t-he  Continent,  and  were  in  con- 
stant, correspondence  with  our  own  literary  and  scien- 
tific friends,  so  that  we  were  always  hearing  from  them 
some  personal  news  of  those  with  whom  we  were  most 
intimate  in  Europe,  and  we  often  rellected  wiih  sur- 
prise in  how  many  parts  of  England  we  should  have 
felt  less  at  home. 

I  remember  an  eminent  English  writer  onqe  saying 
to  me,  when  he  had  just  read  a  recently-published  book 
on  the  United  States,  "I  wonder  (he  author  went  so 
far  to  see  disagreeable  people,  when  there  are  so  .many 
(Of  them  at  home."  It  would  certainly  l)e  stiange  if 
persons  of  refined  habits,  even  without  being  tastidiou^*, 
who  (travel  to  see  life,  and  think  it  their  duty,  with  a 
view  of  studying  character,  to  associate  indiscriminately 
with  aU  lands  pf  people,  visiting  the  first  strangers  who 
ask  them  to  their  houses,  and  choosing  their  com- 
panions without  reference  jto  congeniality  of  taste,  pur- 
suits, manners,  or  opuiionsj  did  not  find  society  in  their 
own  or  any  othpr  ppuntry  in  the  wojjd  intolerable. 


COAP.  VI 


SLEIGH-DRIVING    AT    BOSTON. 


99 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Ffill  of  Snow  and  Slei-rh-drjimng  at  Boston. — Journey  to  New  Ha- 
ven.— Ichthyolites  of  Durham,  Connecticut. — Age  of  Re'l  S.in:l' 
stone. — Income  of  Farmers. — Baltimore. —  Washington. — Nutional 
Museum. — Natural  Impediments  to  the  Growth  of  Wasliin<jiin;. — • 
Why  chosen  for  the  Capital. — Richmond,  Virginia. — Effects  of 
Slace-lahour. — Lnw  Region  on.  the  Atlantic  Border,  occupied  hi/ 
Tertiary  Strata. — Infusorial  Bed  at  Richmond. — Miocene  S\c!ls 
and  Corah  in  the  Cliffs  of  the  James  Rlocr  comprtred  with  Fo'S'iils 
of  the  European  Crag  and  Faluns. — Anilngy  of  F.}rms  and  Dif- 
ference of  Species. — Proportion  of  Species. — Commencement  of 
the  present  Geographical  Distribution  of  Mo'Ausca. 

Nov.  29. 1841. — Although  \vc  were  in  the  latiturle 
of  Rome,  and  there  were  no  mountains  near  us,  we  liad 
a  heavy  fall  of  snow  at  Boston  this  day,  followed  by 
bright  sunshine  and  hard  frost.  It  was  a  cheerful 
scene  to  see  the  sleighs  gliding  noiselessl}^  about  tlic 
streets,  and  to  hear  the  bells,  tied  to  the  horses'  heads, 
warning  the  passer-by  of  their  swift  approach.  As  it 
was  now  the  l)est  season  to  geologise  in  the  southern 
States,  I  determined  to  make  a  flight  in  that  direction  ; 
and  we  had  gone  no  farther  than  New  Haven  before 
we  foiuid  that  all  the  snow  had  disappeared.  I  accord- 
ingly took  the  opportunity  when  there  of  making  a  ge- 
ological excursion,  with  Mr.  Silliman,  jun.,  Proft^ssor 
Hubbard,  and  Mr.  Whelpley,  to  examine  the  red  sand- 
stone strata,  containing  Ichthyolites,  by  the  side  of  a 
small  waterfall  at  Middlefield,  one  mile  from  Durhain, 
in  Connecticut.  The  remains  of  fish  occur  in  a  iuw- 
grained  slaty  sandstone,  black  and  bituminous,  about 
six  feet  lliick,  which  alternates  with  a  coarse  consrl.om- 


.  I 


1    i!i     1   I 


i:      I 


:  I     .:  I  I 


tin 


,;..;*,:{ 


t  \ 


^I'l, 


100 


AGE    OF    RED    SANDSTONE. 


CllAl'.   VI 


eratc,  s^omc  of  the  (jiiartz  pebbles  being  two  or  three 
inches  in  diain-.j^er.  Small  fragments  of  fossil  wooil  and 
a  ripple-marked  suiface  were  observed  in  sojne  of  the 
strata  near  the  fossil-fish.  This  sandstone  is  newer 
than  the  coal,  but  we  have  not  yet  sulRcient  data  to 
pronounce  very  decidedly  on  its  true  age.  The  fv)ot- 
steps  of  numerous  species  of  birds  a  (Ford  no  indication, 
because  in  Europe  we  bavc  as  yet  no  traces  of  birds  in 
rocks  of  such  high  anti(|uify,  and  consequently  no  cor- 
responding term  of  comparison.  As  to  the  iish,  tliey 
have  most  of  them  been  referred  to  the  genus  Paluo- 
II ham,  and  have  been  supposed,  therefore,  by  analogy, 
to  imply  that  the  Comiecticut  deposit  is  of  the  age  of 
the  JMagnesian  limestone  (Lower  New  Red  or  Permian 
Group  of  Europe).  But  jMr.  Rediield  has  expressed 
some  doubt  whether  these  American  fossils  might  net 
constitute  a  new,  though  allied  genus,  having  tb.c 
scales,  and  apparently  the  verteline,  prolonged  to  a 
more  limited  extent  into  the  upper  lobe  of  the  tail  than 
in  the  Eurc)j)ean  species.  In  the  language  of  M. 
Agassiz,  they  are  less  heteroccrcal  than  the  European 
Paleoniscus,  ami,  therefore,  less  closely  related  to  that 
type  which  i.3  universal  in  the  jnorc  ancient  or  paleozo- 
ic formations.  Sir  P.  Egorfon,  who  condrms  these  re- 
marks of  Mr.  Redfield,  and  adds  other  distinctions, 
such  as  the  strong  and  conical  teeth,  ajid  the  smallncrs 
of  the  oral  aperture,  informs  me  that  in  the  five  or  six 
distinct  species  obtained  by  me  from  Durham,  Connec- 
ticut, he  finds  the  scales  to  be  smoother  than  in  the 
Pale oiiisci  of  tlio  Magnesian  limestone  ;  for  the  latter 
have  their  scales  more  or  less  striated  and  serrated  on 
the  posterior  margins.  The  ^\  merican  fossils  approxi- 
mate in  the  character  above  alluded  to  or  in  iiaving 


El 


•»  ■•ir;,""ii 


I 


;  .t 


CiMP.   \^ 


INCOME    OF    FARMERS. 


101 


{«moolli  5cale^».  to  the  I'oal-incasurc  specie-!,  so  Hint  tlie 
cvidi'MCf  ilerivetl  ftoni  Ii-Iitl»yoln;j;'v  is  vcrv  conjlictiii'^. 
Professor  II.  1).  Kotrcrs  infers  froni  his  hrotlioi's  dis- 
covcry  in  V'ii<riiii:i  of  shells  in  this  f^rnKition,  referred  to 
the  Posidonia  Keit/>arl.  a  cluiracferistic  species  of  the 
I^iiropean  Trias,  that  the  Connecticut  snndstonc  be- 
lon'^s  to  the  l.'pper  New  Red  or  Tiiassic  sysleni. 

In  the  neig[d)ourho()d  of  Durham  we  learnt  tliat  a 
-ii(>\v  slorni,  which  O'cuned  there  in  the  llrst  week  of 
()ct)ber,  had  seriously  injure  1  the  woods,  weiLihing- 
down  the  houghs  then  in  full  leaf,an  1  snapj)in<i:  oil"  the 
K'.ulin'j  shoots.  For  the  first  time  in  the  Tnited  States 
I  hoard  i^reat  concern  expressed  for  the  danm<::e  sus- 
t;ii)ed  by  the  tini!)er,  whiih  is  heixinning  to  grow 
sL;nr(^  in  New  England,  where  coal  is  deor. 

The  valley  of  the  (Connecticut  pri'sents  a  p!cnsing 
picture  of  a  rural  poj)ulation,  where  there  is  neitler 
p)V(rty  nor  great  wealth.  I  was  told  by  we!l-infi)rnied 
persons,  that  if  the  land  and  stock  of  the  farmers  or 
s  n  ill  proprietors  were  soil  oil' and  invested  in  securities 
giving  six  per  cent,  interest,  their  average  incomes 
would  not  exceed  more  thim  from  8!  7.  to  12(!/.  a  year. 
An  old  gentleman  who  lately  re-visited  Hurham,  his  na- 
tive place,  after  an  absence  of  twenty-live  years,  told  me 
that  in  this  interval  the  large  families,  the  eipial  sub- 
division of  the  paternal  estates  among  children,  and  tlie 
etlorts  made  for  the  outfit  of  sons  migrating  to  tlic 
West,  had  sensibly  lowered  the  fortunes  of  the  Con- 
necticut yeomanry,  so  that  they  were  reduced  nearer  to 
the  condition  of  labourers  than  when  he  left  them. 

Pursuing  my  coinse  soathwards,  I  found  thnt  tljc 
snow-storm  liad  bc?n  less  heavy  at  New  York,  still  lei?s 
at  Philadelphia,  and  after  crossing  the  Susquehanna 

9* 


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102 


WASniNtJTON. —  NATIOXAI.    MUSEUM.       UlUF.  vi. 


Chap. 


(Doc  13.)  tlio  weather  beo-nn  t-i  resonihio  tluit  of  an 
I'jU^Iish  sj)!iji<r.  Ill  f'le  .submits  of  Baltimore,  the  lo- 
c  )1M  )tive  ciii^iiicrf  hein^r  tlctaclied,  our  ciirs  were  drawn 
by  horses  on  a  railway  into  the  niiddh?  of  the  town. 
JM.uyland  was  the  first  slave  state  we  liad  visited ;  and 
M  n.UtinKHC  we  were  reminded  for  the  first  lime  of  the 
p')or(M-  inhabitants  of  a  large  European  city  by  the 
moan  (lwellin;^s  and  dres^s  of  some  of  the  labouring 
das-,  both  coloured  and  white. 

At  ^V;lsllin^'•ton  I  was  shown  the  newly-founded  na- 
ti;)nal  museum,  in  which  the  objects  of  natural  history 
iind  other  treasures  collected  during  the  late  voyage  of 
discovery  to  the  Antarctic  regions,  the  South  Seas,  and 
California,  are  deposited.  Such  a  national  repository 
would  be  invaluable  at  Philadelphia,  New  York,  or 
Boston,  but  here  there  is  no  university,  no  classes  of 
students  in  science  or  literature,  no  philosophical  socie- 
ties, no  people  who  seem  to  have  any  leisure.  The 
members  of  Congress  rarely  have  town  residences  in 
this  place,  but,  leaving  their  families  in  large  cities, 
where  they  may  enjoy  more  refined  society,  they  live 
here  in  boarding-houses  initil  their  political  duties  and 
the  session  are  over.  If  the  most  eminent  legislators 
and  statesmen,  the  lawyers  of  the  supreme  courts,  and 
the  foreign  ami)assadors,  had  all  been  assembled  here 
for  a  great  part  of  the  year  with  their  families,  in  a 
wealthy  and  nourishing  metropolis,  the  social  and  po- 
litical results  of  a  great  centre  of  influence  and  author- 
ity could  not  have  failed  to  be  most  beneficial.  Cir- 
cumstances purely  accidental,  and  not  the  intentional 
jealousy  of  the  democracy,  have  checked  the  growth  of 
the  capital,  and  deprived  it  of  the  constitutional  ascen- 
dency which  it  might  otherwise  have  exerted.     Coa* 


M 


cans 


Chap    vi.       WASHINGTON,    WHY    THK    CAPITAL. 

grcss  fust  assembled  in  Pliiladelphia,  where  the  decla- 
raiioii  of  indrpeiulenco  was  signed  ;  but  after  the  close 
of  the  rcvohilioiiary  war  in  Ji.ne,  1783,  a  party  of  the 
dishandrd  army  marched  to  tiiat  city  to  demand  their 
arrears  of  pay,  and  surrounded  the  building  in  which 
the  K.'presentativcs  of  fiie  people  were  sitting,  with  fixed 
bayonets  for  about  three  hours.  This  alarm  caused 
them  to  adjourn  and  meet  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey, 
and  afterwards  to  seek  some  permanent  seat  of  gov- 
ernment. But  for  this  untoward  event,  Philadelphia 
niiglit  have  remained  the  federal  metropolis,  and  in 
that  case  would  certainly  have  Ufted  up  her  head  above 
other  cities  in  the  New  World — 

"  Qimntiim  ienta  solent  inter  vibuma  cupresBi." 

General  Washington  is  said  to  have  selected  the 
present  site  of  the  capital  as  the  most  central  spot  on 
tho  Atlantic  border,  being  midway  between  Maine  and 
Florida,  and  ij«.Mng  also  at  the  head  of  the  navigation 
of  a  gr(;at  river.  He  had  observed  that  all  the  other 
principal  cities  eastward  of  the  Alleghany  mountains 
had  sprung  up  on  similar  sites ;  but  unfortunately  th(3 
estuary  of  the  Potomac  is  so  long  and  wijiding,  that  to 
ascei\;l  from  its  mouth  to  Wasiungton  is  said  often  to 
take  a  vessel  as  long  as  to  cross  from  Liverpool  to  the 
mouth  of  the  river.  Had  Annapolis,  which  is  only 
thirty  miles  distant,  been  chosen  as  the  capital,  it  is  be- 
lieved that  it  would,  ere  this,  have  contained  100,000 
inhabitants. 

We  were  present  at  an  animated  debate  in  the 
H  )use  of  Representatives,  on  the  proposed  protective 
tari!}',  anJ  a  discussion  in  the  senate  on  "  Ways  and 
Means,"  both  carried  on  with  great  order  and  decorum. 
After  being  presented  to  the  President,  and  visiting 


t 

I 


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I 


1- 


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Ni 


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■I  '  * 


.♦ 


"^1 


104 


EFFECTS    OF    SI.AVr>-LAnOlR. 


Chap  vi. 


'4 


several  prr.-ons  to  v.lioni  wo  li:ul  KMtns.  av^  were 
warned  l)V  a  sliulit  .-prialJin''-  of^iiou  ll!:il  it  was  I'.ino 
to  depart  and  ini^riate  fnrtlier  soiilhwanls.  ( 'lo.-sin;,'' 
the  Potomac,  therefore,  I  proi'eeded  to  Kiilnnoiwl,  in 
Viri^inia,  where  J  resolved  to  sail  down  ihe  James 
Kiver,  in  order  to  examine  tlic  gi'ology  of  the  tertiary 
btrata  on  its  si^horcy. 

On  enterinj^  the  station-house  of  a  railway  wliich 
was  to  carry  u.s  to  oar  place  of  emharkation,  we  found 
a  room  witii  only  two  chairs  in  it.  Oiu?  of  tjujse  was 
occupied  by  a  rcr-pcctable-looking  woman,  who  imme- 
diately rose,  intending-  to  ^ive  it  up  to  me,  an  act  1  e- 
traying  that  she  was  Eni^lish,  and  newly-arrived,  a:-  an 
American  gentleman,  even  if  already  seated,  would 
have  felt  it  necessary  to  rise  and  oiler  the  chair  to  any 
woman,  whether  mistress  or  maid,  and  she,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  would  have  accepted  the  proH'cied  seat. 
After  1  had  gone  out,  she  told  my  wife  that  she  and 
her  husband  liad  come  a  few  months  before  fronj  Hert- 
fordshire, lioping  to  get  work  in  Virginia,  hut  she  had 
discovered  that  there  was  no  room  here  for  jH)or  white 
peoj)le,  who  were  despised  by  the  very  negroes  if  they 
laboured  with  their  own  hands.  She  had  found  herself 
looked  down  upon,  even  for  ca/rying  her  own  child,  foi 
they  said  she  ought  to  hire  a  l)lack  mirse.  'i'hese  pooj 
emigrants  were  now  ajixious  to  settle  in  some  IVcc 
state. 

As  another  exemplification  of  the  imjiediments  to  im 
provement  existing  here,  I  was  told  that  a  New  V]ng- 
land  agriculturist  had  bought  a  farm  on  the  south  side 
of  the  James  river,  sold  olF  all  the  slaves,  and  intro- 
duced Irish  labourers,  being  persuaded  that  their  ticv- 
vices  would  prove  more  economical  than  slave-labour. 


m  1 1 


Chap.  VI.        MIOCENE    STRATA    OF    VIROINIA. 


105 


Tlio  schcmo  wns  nnswcrin:?  well,  till,  by  t.lic  onil  of  (he 
fliird  year,  tlu;  Iiisli  bcciinu;  very  iim  '>  dissatislieil  uiili 
their  position,  feeling'  degraded  hy  lo.sing  ih''  respect  of 
the  whiles,  and  i)ein^  exposed  to  iIh;  <  oiiteiin>(  o''  the 
surrounding  negroes.  Tiiey  had,  in  fact,  lov^ered  iheni- 
sclves  by  the  habitual  perfDrniance  (,f  otlices  which, 
south  of  the  Potomac,  arc  assigned  U  hereditary 
bondsmen. 

MiocEXE  Tertiary  Strata  of  Virginia. 

We  have  already  seen  that  between  the  hillv  coini- 
trv  and  the  Atlantic  there  occurs  in  the  Unittul  .States, 
a  low  and  nearly  level  region  (a,  n,  lig.  5,  p.  71.),  occu- 
pied principally  by  beds  of  marl,  clay,  and  sand  of  the 
cretaceous  and  tertiary  formations.  I\'aclure,  in  1S17, 
ia  his  work  on  geology,  laiil  down  with  no  small  accu- 
racy on  a  coloured  map  the  general  hmits  of  this  great 
plain,  and  of  the  granitic  district  lying  immctliately  t/ 
the  westward.  He  also  pointed  out  that  al  the  juno 
tion  of  these  great  geological  provinces  (a,  n,  and  n,  c, 
fig.  5.),  at  the  point  //,  as  indicated  in  the  section,  al- 
most all  the  great  rivers  descend  sudtlenly  bv  falls  or 
rapids  of  moderate  height,  as  the  Delaware  at  Trenton, 
the  Schuylkill  near  Philadelphia,  the  Potomac  near 
Washington,  the  James  river  at  Ri-hmond,  Virginia, 
the  Savannah  at  Augusta  in  Georgia^  and  many  others. 
At  these  points,  therefore,  the  navigation  is  stopi)ed, 
and  a  great  many  large  cities  have  sprung  up  precisely 
at  this  limit,  so  that  the  hne  which  marks  the  western 
boundary  of  the  tertiary,  and  the  eastern  of  the  grani- 
tic region,  is  one  of  no  small  geological,  geograpbicy.l 
and  political  interest. 


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MIOCENE    STRATA    OF    VIRGINIA.       Chap.  Ti 


The  (Tonoral  elevation  of  flic  great  plain  does  not 
exceol  a  limidrtvl  feet,  altliough  sometimes  considera- 
bly lii'jchcr.  Its  width  in  the  middle  and  southern 
stated  is  very  commonly  from  lOU  to  150  miles.  The 
tid(^,  except  in  the  more  southern  states,  (lows  entirely 
across  it,  and  the  livcn-s  intersecting  it  form  large  estu- 
aries, which  mny  have  been  due  to  the  facility  witli 
whicli  the  incoherent  materials  of  the  clills  were  un- 
dermined and  swept  away,  a  process  of  waste  whicli  is 
still  going  on. 

Tinougliout  the  greater  part  of  the  Atlantic  plain, 
the  cr(;tace:)us  rocks,  if  present,  are  concealed  by  the 
overlying  tertiary  deposits,  which  consist  chietly  of  Mi- 
ocene strata,  extending  from  Delaware  bay  to  the  Cape 
Fear  river,  and  occupying  portions  of  Delaware,  Mary- 
land. Viiginin,  and  North  Carolina,  an  area  about  400 
]niies  lojig  from  north  to  sou;h,  and  varying  in  breadth 
from  10  to  70  miles.  There  are,  besides,  some  patches 
of  the  Miocene  f>nnation  in  South  Carolina  and  Geor- 
gia, wlicre  the  Eocene  or  older  tertiary  deposits  pre- 
dominate almost  exclusively. 

I  began  my  examination  of  these  tertiary  strata  in 
the  subuibs  of  Kiclnnond,  Virginia,  where  I  saw  in 
Shock(je  creek  some  Eocene  marls  with  characteristic 
shells,  on  which  reposed  Miocene  red  clay  and  sand. 
Between  the  two  formations  a  remarkable  bed  of  yel- 
low siliceous  clay  intervenes,  from  twelve  to  twenty- 
five  feet  thick,  marked  on  tlie  surface  by  a  band  of 
meagre  vegetation.  This  clay  was  found  by  Professor 
W.  B.  Rogers  to  be  entirely  composed  of  tbe  siliceous 
cases  of  Infusoria',  so  minute  as  only  to  be  detected  by 
a  powerful  microscope,  and  yet  exhibiting  distinct  spe- 


Chap.  vi.      HOSPITALITY   OF   THE    PLANTERS. 


107 


cific  characters,  enabling  us  to  refer  them  to  the  Mio- 
cene period. 

Going  down  the  James  river  about  twenty  miles  be- 
low Richmond,  I  found,  at  a  place  called  City  Point,  on 
the  right  bank,  a  cliff  thirty  feet  high,  in  which  yellow 
and  white  sands  appear,  with  shells  very  analogous  to 
tliose  of  tJie  Suffolk  crag,  and  referable  to  the  same 
age ;  resting  on  Eocene  marl  and  green  earth.  Several 
miles  lower,  at  Evergreen,  I  collected  abundance  of 
shells  in  the  upper  or  Miocene  formation,  with  great 
numbers  of  an  Astarte,  resembling  one  of  the  com- 
monest kinds  of  the  Suffolk  crag,  and  accompanied  by 
the  teeth  of  sharks,  and  bones  of  cetacea.  Landing 
then  at  Coggin's  Point,  several  miles  farther  eastward 
on  the  Virginian  shore,  I  was  conducted  by  Mr.  Ruflin, 
son  of  the  editor  of  the  Farmer's  Register,  to  a  locality 
where  shell-marl  is  procured  and  used  for  improving 
light  soils,  just  as  in  Suffolk  and  on  the  Loire,  strata 
of  the  same  age,  called  crag  and  falun,  have  for  cen- 
turies afforded  a  fertilizing  mixture. 

Here,  and  at  Evergreen  before  mentioned,  large  flat- 
tened masses  several  feet  wide,  of  a  lameUiform  coral 
resembling  an  Astrcea,  were  lying  on  the  beach,  washed 
out  of  the  Miocene  marls.  The  species  has  been  called 
by  Mr.  Lonsdale  Column  aria  sexradiata,  and  differs 
from  the  genus  Astriea,  as  defined  by  Ehrenberg,  in 
the  stars  not  being  subdivided. 

All  the  planters  in  this  part  of  Virginia,  to  whose 
houses  I  went  without  letters  of  introduction,  received 
me  most  politely  and  hospitably.  To  be  an  English- 
man engaged  in  scientific  pursuits  was  a  sufficient  pass- 
port, and  their  servants,  horses,  and  carriages,  were  most 
liberally  placed  at  my  disjwsal. 


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108 


WILLIAMSBURG. 


Chap,  vt 


i 


I  then  crossed  to  the  north  side  of  the  James  river, 
being  rowed  out  at  sunrise  far  from  tlie  siiore  to  wait 
for  a  steamer.  The  hour  of  her  arrival  being  soine* 
what  uncertain,  we  remained  for  some  time  in  the  cold. 
muflled  up  in  our  cloaks,  in  a  small  boat  moored  to  a 
single  wooden  pile  driven  into  a  shoal,  with  three  ne- 
groes for  our  companions.  Tiie  situation  was  desolate 
in  the  extreme,  both  the  banks  of  the  broad  estuary 
appearing  low  and  distant,  and  as  wild  and  uniiiliabitcd 
as  when  first  discovered  in  1()U7,  by  Captain  Siiiitii,  bo- 
fore  he  was  taken  prisoner,  and  his  life  saved  Ijy  the 
Indian  maiden  Pocahontas.  At  length  we  gladly  hailed 
the  large  steamer  as  she  cainj  down  raj)idiy  tj wards 
US;  and  my  luggage  was  inunediately  taken  charge  of 
by  two  of  the  sable  crew,  who  called  themselves  Lord 
WelUngton  and  Jidius  Caisar. 

We  disembarked  in  a  few  hours  near  the  old  desert- 
ed village  of  Jamestown,  at  the  Grove  Landing,  se\cn 
miles  south  of  Williamsburg.  Here  1  found  the  beach 
strewed  over  with  innumerable  fossil  shells,  washed  out 
of  the  sandy  Miocene  marls  of  a  cli.'l"  fjrty  feet  high. 
Some  large  varieties  of  the  genus  Pcctcii  were  mo.-t 
abundant,  closely  packed  together  in  a  dense  bed, 
above  which  was  another  layer  composed  almost  wholly 
of  the  shells  of  a  Chama  (C  cnngregata)^  both  valves 
being  united  in  each  individual,  from  the  same  clitf 
I  also  procured  shels  of  the  genera  Conit,<i,  Oli.va, 
Mai'g-inella,  Fusus,  Pyrula,  Murex,  Naiiat,  and 
others.    - 

AVe  then  visited  Williamsburg,  where  there  is  a  Uni- 
versity founded  by  William  and  Mary,  and  therefore 
very  ancient  for  this  country.  In  the  neighbourhood  I 
procured  a  rich  harvest  of  fossil  shells,  collecting  in  one 


•  <■ 


Ciup.  VI. 


MIOCENE   FOSSILS. 


109 


morning  with  my  own  liands  no  less  than  seventy  dis- 
tinct spcicies,  bcsitlcs  several  corals,  in  a  pit  at  BurweU's 
Mill.  L'pon  tile  whole,  I  procured  1 17  species  of  shells, 
exclusive  of  Balani  and  corals,  from  this  formation  in 
the  United  ^States,  and  chieliy  during  the  present  expe- 
dition and  ne:ir  the  banks  of  the  .lames  river. 

That  thev  belon"-  to  the  same  aj^c  as  the  Miocene 
dcpo.its  of  Europe  may  be  inferred : — hrst,  from  their 
position,  as  tliey  overlie  the  Eocene  marls  containing 
shells,  resembling  those  of  the  London  and  Paris  ba- 
sins : — secondly,  from  the  close  allinity  of  many  of  the 
mo^t  iibundant  speciis  to  fossils  of  the  crag  of  Sullblk 
and  the  French  faluiis : — thirdly,  from  the  proportion 
of  the  fossil  shells,  identical  in  sjjecies  with  moihisca, 
now  inhabiting  the  American  coast,  the  proportion  be- 
ing about  one  sixth  of  the  whole,  or  about  seventeen 
per  cent.,  in  tho^e  compared  by  me,  lor  1  iiave  been  able 
to  identity  23  out  of  1  i7  with  living  shells.  This  re- 
lation of  the  fossil  and  recent  fauna  had  already  led 
Mr.  Com"ad  and  the  Professors  ivoiifers  to  the  same  con- 
elusions,  ajid  they  had  correctly  called  thc^se  deposits 
Miocene.  I'ourthh',  the  corals,  of  which  I  obtained 
thirteen  specie  -,  agree  all  generh-ally  with  those  of  the 
Miocene  beds  of  Europe,  and  some  specilically,  as  a 
lunuhte,  the  same  as  one  from  the  Sullblk  crag,  and 
AnUio})liy}ln.in.  breve,  common  ir.  the  falims  of  Tou- 
raine.  I'ifthly,  the  cetacea  also  agree  generically,  and 
the  fish  in  many  cases  specilically,  with  European  ]Mi- 
ocenc  fossils,  and  no  remains  of  reptiles  ha\e  been  found 
on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic  in  this  formation. 

When  we  consider  how  remarkably  the  species  of 
the  Sullblk  crag  dilfer  from  the  shells  of  the  contem- 
poraneous faluns  of  the  Loire,  the  geologist  will  not  bo 

10 


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110 


MIOCENE    FOSSILS. 


Ciur.  VI 


surprised  to  learn  that  I  have  only  met  with  nine 
American  Miocene  slielk,  agieeing  with  fossils  of  the 
same  period  in  Europe.  It  is  also  worthy  of  notice 
that  the  shells  identified  with  recent  species  agree  witii 
testacea,  now  living  on  the  western  side  of  the  Atlan- 
tic, some  of  which,  as  some  kinds  of  Fulgur,  a  sub- 
genus of  Pt/rttla,  and  Gitat/iodoii,  an  estuary  shell, 
are  forms  peculiar  to  America.  In  Uke  manner,  the 
fossil  shells  found  in  the  Miocene  strata  of  Europe, 
which  agree  with  recent  kinds,  belong  to  species  in- 
habiting the  British  seas,  the  Mediterranean,  or  the 
African  coast  of  the  Atlantic.  Hence  it  follows  that  at 
the  remote  period  called  Miocene,  the  seas  were  not 
only  divided  as  now  into  distinct  geographical  provinces, 
but  already  that  peculiar  distribution  of  the  living  mol- 
lusca  which  now  exists  had  begun  to  prevail.  This 
conclusion  is  remarkable  when  we  recollect  that  at  the 
geological  era  alluded  to,  the  fauna  was  so  distinct  from 
the  present,  that  four  fifths  of  the  species  now  living 
had  not  yet  come  into  existence. 

In  regard  to  the  climate  of  the  Miocene  period  it  is 
not  uninteresting  to  observe  that  the  fossil  shells  of 
Maryland  and  Virginia  resemble  those  of  Touraine  and 
Bourdeaux  more  nearly  than  the  fossils  of  Suliolk. 
This  might  have  been  expected  from  the  nearer  cor- 
respondence in  latitude ;  and  it  is  the  presence  of  such 
genera  as  Conus,  Oliva,  Marginella,  and  Crassatella 
(represented  by  large  species),  forms  belonging  to 
warmer  seas,  which  assimilate  the  American  and 
French  deposits,  and  contrast  both  of  them  with  the 
English,  where  no  representatives  of  these  genera  are 
met  with.  Nevertheless,  it  is  singular  that  there  should 
be  so  much  resemblance  between  the  Miocene  shells  of 


ChaF.  VI. 


MIOCENE    FOSSILS. 


Ill 


the  Loire  and  Gironde  and  those  of  the  James  rivtr 
and  other  estuaries  in  tlic  United  States  which  lie  ten 
degrees  of  latitude  farther  south  than  the  Frencii  fa 
luns,  the  latter  Ijeing  in  the  47th,  wliile  the  American 
strata  of  the  same  age  are  in  the  37tii  of  north  lati- 
tude. This  circumstance  may  probably  be  accounted 
for  by  curves  in  the  isothermal  lines  similar  in  their 
prolongation  east  and  west,  to  those  now  existing  as 
pointed  out  by  Humboldt,  in  his  essay  on  Climate. 


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112 


FINE    BARRENS    OF    VIRGINIA.  CilAP.  TU 


CHAPTER  VII. 


4 


Pine  Barrens  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina. — Railwny  Train 
slopprd  III/  S/iow  and  Ire. —  The  Great  Di.tmtil  Swnvip. — Soil 
J'nii  ed.  entire!//  of  Verretable  Mitter. — Rises  hiisJier  tlian  the  con- 
I'igiions  firm  fj-inil. — Buried-  Timber. — Lal:e  in  the  Mddle. —  The 
Ori<rin  of  Conl  iihisfr/iled  by  the  Great  Dismal. — Olijertions  to 
thf  Theory  of  an  ancieut  Atmosphere  highly  charged  with  Car- 
bonic Acid, 

Dec.  2?}.  IS  11. — From  Willianisburjr  we  went  to 
Nortolk  iii  Virginia,  pa^.-^inu^  down  tlic  James  river  in  a 
stoanu-r,  and  from  Norfolk  by  railway  to  Weidon  in 
N ortli  Curo'ina.  passimj  for  oijhtv  niile.s  thronoh  a  low 
level  cou.itiv,  c  )vereLl  with  fir  trees,  and  calle.l  tiie  Fine 
Barrens.  On  onr  way  we  were  overtaken  l/V  rain, 
which  tnrnoJ  to  sleet,  and  in  the  eveninij  farmed  a 
coating"  of  ice  on  the  rails,  so  tliat  the  wheels  of  the  en- 
gine conld  take  no  hold.  There  was  a  good  stove  and 
plenty  of  And  in  the  car,  hnt  no  food.  After  a  short 
pan-;e,  the  engineer  backed  the  locomotive  for  half  a 
mile  over  that  part  of  the  rail  from  which  the  snow  and 
ice  had  jnst  been  brnshed  and  scraped  away  by  the  jias- 
sage  of  the  train ;  then,  retnrning  rapidly,  he  gained 
snllicient  momentnm  to  carry  ns  on  two  or  three  miles 
farther,  and,  by  several  repetitions  of  this  mana^uvre,  he 
bronght  us,  about  nightfall,  to  a  small  watering  station, 
vrhcre  there  was  no  inn,  but  a  two-storied  cottage  not 
far  off. 

Here  we  were  made  welcome,  and  as  we  had  previ- 
ously dropped  by  the  way  all  our  passengers  except  two, 
were  furnished  with  a  small  room  to  ourselves,  and  a 


ClIAP.  VII. 


THE    PINE    BARREXS. 


113 


clean  conifortable  bed.  We  soon  made  a  blazinf^  wood- 
lire,  and  ilelied  the  cold,  althougli  we  coidd  see  plainly 
t!ic  white  snow  on  tiie  ground  through  openings  in  the 
iinplastercd  laths  of  which  tlie  wall  of  the  hon-;e  was 
made.  Before  morning  all  the  snow  was  melted,  and 
we  again  proceeded  on  our  way  through  the  Pino 
Barrens. 

Our  car,  according  to  the  usual  construction  in  '.hig 
country,  was  in  the  shape  of  a  long  omnibus,  with  the 
seats  transverse,  and  a  |)assage  dnvn  the  miJdie,  where, 
ta  the  groat  relief  of  the  traveller,  he  can  stand  uj)right 
with  his  hat  on,  and  walk  about,  warming  himself 
when  he  pleases  at  the  stove,  whii^h  is  in  the  centre  of 
the  car.  There  is  often  a  private  room  litt(.'d  up  for 
tlie  ky.lics,  into  which  no  gentleman  can  intrude,  and 
v.here  they  are  sometimes  suj)plicd  with  rocking-chairs, 
so  essential  to  the  comfort  of  the  Antericans,  whether 
nt  sea  or  on  land,  in  a  fashionable  drawing-room  or  in 
tlie  cabin  of  a  ship.  It  is  singular  enough  that  this 
luxury,  after  being  popular  for  agos  all  over  Lancashire, 
required  transplantation  to  the  New  World  before  it 
could  be  improved  and  become  fashionable,  so  as  to  be 
reinjj)orted  into  its  native  land. 

The  Pine  Banens,  on  which  the  long-leafed  or  pitch 
pines  nourish,  have  for  the  most  part  a  siliceous  soil, 
and  form  a  broad  belt  many  hundred  miles  in  length, 
running  parallel  to  the  coast,  in  the  region  called  the 
Atlantic  Plain,  before  alluded  to.  The  sands,  as  we 
follow  this  region  from  New  Jerse}'  to  Georgia,  are  de- 
rived from  strata  of  more  than  one  tertiary  period,  and 
there  are  interstratified  beds  of  clay,  which,  whenever 
they  come  to  the  surface  in  valleys,  cause  swamps, 
wliere  peculiar  kinds  of  evergreen  oaks,  the  cypress  or 

10* 


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i 


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■m 


114 


GREAT    DISMAL    SWAMP. 


Chap.  vi. 


BJ' 


cc'lar,  tall  cano^,  aiil  other  plants  abound.  Many 
c!iinl)or.-!,  called  here  wil  1  vines,  encircle  the  trunks  of 
till)  trees,  and  on  the  Ixin!;^  of  the  iioanake,  near  Wei- 
don,  I  sxw  nnniorous  inis.4etoj;!!  with  their  white  bevrie.^ 
The  Pine  U.irren.-i  retain  much  of  their  verdure  in  win- 
ter, and  were  interesting  to  me  from  the  uniformity 
and  monotony  of  their  j^oneral  aspect,  for  they  consti- 
tute, from  tlieir  vast  extent,  one  of  the  marke  1  featurers 
in  t!i;3  geDgraphy  of  the  globe,  like  the  Pampas  of 
Sjuth  America. 

There  are  many  swamps  or  morasses  in  this  low  llat 
region,  and  one  of  the  largest  of  these  occurs  between 
the  t3wns  of  Norfolk  and  Weldon.  We  traversed  sev- 
eral miles  of  its  northern  extremity  on  the  railway, 
which  is  suppDrted  on  pile^.  It  bears  the  appropj-iate 
and  very  expressive  name  of  the  "  Great  Dismal,"  and 
is  no  less  than  forty  miles  in  length  from  north  to  south, 
an  1  twenty-five  miles  in  its  greatest  width  from  east  to 
we.-f,  the  northern  half  being  situated  in  Virginia,  the 
sauthern  in  North  Carolina.  I  observed  that  the  water 
was  obviously  in  motion  in  icveral  places,  and  the  mo- 
rass has  3 :)mewhat  the  appearance  of  a  broad  inundated 
river-plain,  covered  with  all  kinds  of  aquatic  trees  and 
shrubs,  the  soil  being  as  black  as  in  a  peat-bog.  The 
accumulation  of  vegetable  matter  going  on  here  in  a 
hot  cliniat'j,  over  so  vast  an  area,  is  a  subject  of  such 
high  geological  interest,  that  I  shall  relate  wdiat  I  learnt 
of  this  singular  morass.  The  best  account  yet  published 
of  it  is  given  by  Mr.  Edmund  lluflin,  the  able  edittr 
of  the  Farmer's  Register  (see  vol  iv.,  No.  9.  January 
7.  1S37). 

It  is  one  enormouij  quagmire,  soft  and  muddy,  except 
where  the  surface  is  rendered  partially  firm  by  a  cover- 


ClIAB    VII. 


GREAT    DISMAL    SWAMP. 


115 


ing  of  vegetables  and  their  matted  roots  ;  yet,  strange 
\3  say,  instead  of  being  lower  than  the  level  of  the  sur- 
rounding country,  it  is  actually  higher  than  nearly  all 
the  linn  and  dry  land  which  encompasses  it,  and,  to 
make  the  anomaly  complete,  in  spite  of  iis  semi-lluid 
character,  it  is  higher  in  the  interior  than  towards  its 


niargni. 


The  only  exceptions  to  both  these  statements  is  found 
on  the  western  side,  w  here,  for  the  distance  of  about 
twelve  or  fifteen  miles,  the  streams  How  from  slightly 
elevated  but  higher  land,  and  supply  all  its  abundant 
and  overflowing  water.  Towards  the  north,  the  east, 
and  the  south,  the  waters  flow  from  the  swamp  to  dif- 
ferent rivers,  which  give  abundant  evidence,  by  the 
rate  of  their  descent,  that  the  Great  Dis^mal  is  higlier 
than  the  surrounding  firm  ground.  This  fact  is  also 
confirmed  bv  the  measurements  made  in  Icvellinfj  for 
the  railway  from  Portsmouth  to  Suffolk,  and  for  two 
canals  cut  through  dillbrcnt  parts  of  the  morass,  for  the 
sake  of  obtaining  timber.  The  railway  itself,  when 
traversing  the  Great  Dismal,  is  literally  higher  than 
when  on  the  land  some  miles  distant  on  either  side,  and 
is  six  to  seven  feet  higher  than  where  it  passes  over  dry 
ground,  near  to  Suflblk  and  Portsmouth.  Upon  the 
whole,  the  centre  of  the  morass  seems  to  lie  more  than 
twelve  feet  above  the  flat  country  round  it.  If  the 
streams  which  now  flow  in  from  the  west,  had  for  ages 
been  bringing  down  black  fluid  mire,  instead  of  water, 
over  the  firm  subsoil,  we  might  suppose  the  ground  so 
inundated  to  have  acquired  its  present  configuration. 
Some  small  ridges,  however,  of  land  must  have  existed 
in  the  original  plain  or  basin,  for  these  now  rise  like 
1q^  islands  in  various  places  above  the  general  siuface. 


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IIG     SOIL  FORMF-n  or  VEGETABLE  MATTER.    Ciur.  VI 


li 


Vaii  llic  stroniiH  lo  the  wostwnrfl  do  not  bring  down  li 
(|ui'.l  niiiv,  and  arc  not  cliiir^cl  will)  any  scdinirnt. 
'lliii  soil  of  tlie  swamp  is  CornifMl  of  vegetaMe  mailer 
usually  willioul.  any  admixture  of  earthy  pai  tides.  ^Vc 
have  here,  in  fact,  a  deposit  of  peat  from  ten  to  fiftc  en 
r-et  in  tliickn(?.-9,  in  a  lafiMrle  where,  owinj^  to  the  heat 
of  the  sun,  and  length  of  the  snmnier,  no  peat  mosses 
like  those  of  lOurope  would  ho  looked  for  under  ordi- 
nary circumstances. 

In  countries  like  Scotland  and  Ireland,  where  tlie 
climate  is  dain|).  and  tlie  snnnner  short  and  coo!,  the 
natural  vegetation  of  one  year  does  not  rot  away  du- 
ring the  next  in  nioist  situations.  If  w^it  'r  Hows  into 
such  land,  it  i-;  absorbed,  and  promotes  the  vigorou:^ 
growth  of  mosses  and  other  atpriti.;  plant.-,  and  when 
they  die,  the  same  wafer  arre-ts  their  putrefaction 
But  as  a  general  rule,  no  such  accumulation  of  peal 
can  take  placi;  in  a  eountrv  like  that  of  Viriiinia. 
wher(!  the  summer's  heat  canscs  amnially  as  large  a 
(juantity  of  dead  plants  to  decay  as  is  eipial  in  amount 
to  the  vegetable  matter  producc'd  in  one  year. 

It  has  been  already  staled  that  there  are  many  trees 
and  shrubs  in  the  region  of  the  Pine  Barrens  (and  the 
saiuc  may  be  said  of  the  United  States  generally) 
which,  like  our  willows,  llourish  luxuriantly  in  water. 
The  jimiper  trees,  or  white  cedar  {Cnj)ressi(s  tliy- 
oiili's\  stand  lirmly  in  the  softest  part  of  the  quag- 
mire, supported  by  their  long  tap-roots,  and  ailbrd, 
with  many  other  evergreens,  a  dark  shade,  under 
which  a  multitude  of  ferns,  reeds,  and  shruhs,  from 
nine  to  eighteen  feet  high,  and  a  thick  carpet  of  moss- 
es, fonr  or  live  inches  high,  spring  up  and  are  pro- 
tected from  the  rays  of  tlie  sun.    When  these  are  most 


I  , 


Ciur.  vii. 


GREAT    DISMAL    SWAMP. 


117 


powerful,  the  larn^e  codar  {CHpressus  dlstlcha)  and 
many  other  dcciduoiH  trees  am  in  lull  leaf.  'IMic  black 
soil  formed  beneath  this  shade,  to  which  the  mosses 
and  the  leaves  make  annual  additions,  does  not  per- 
fectly resemble  the  peat  of  Europe,  most  of  the  plants 
hc\ng  so  decayed  as  to  leave  little  more  than  soft  black 
mud,  without  any  traces  of  organization.  This  loose 
goil  is  called  sponge  by  the  labourers  ;  and  it  has  been 
ascertained  that,  when  exposed  tj  the  sun,  and  thrown 
out.  on  the  bank  of  a  canal,  where  cleanings  have  been 
made,  it  rots  entirely  away.  Hence  it  is  evident  that 
it  owes  its  preservation  in.  the  swamp  to  moisture  and 
tl;e  shade  of  the  dense  f)liage.  The  eviiporation  con- 
tinually gouig  on  in  the  wet  spongy  s;)il  during  sunnncr 
cools  the  air,  and  generates  a  teuipcrature  resembling 
that  of  a  more  northern  climate,  or  a  region  more  ele- 
vated above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

Numerous  trunks  of  large  and  tall  trees  lie  lnn'*cd  in 
tli^  bkick  mire  of  the  mora?^s.  In  so  loose  a  soil  they 
are  ea.^iiy  overthrown  by  wiiids.  and  nearlv  as  many 
have  been  fnmd  lying  beneath  the  surface  of  the  peaty 
soil,  as  standiiig  (;rcct  upon  it.  When  thrown  down, 
they  are  soon  covere  1  by  water,  and  keephig  wet  tliey 
never  decompose,  except  the  sap  wood,  which  i-  less 
than  an  inch  thick.  ]\Iuch  of  the  timber  is  obtained 
by  sounding  a  foot  or  two  below  tin;  surface,  and  il  is 
sawn  into  jilanks  while  half  under  water. 

The  Great  Dismal  has  been  described  as  being  higji 
est  towards  its  centre.  Here,  however,  there  is  an  ex- 
tensive lake  of  an  oval  form,  seven  miles  long,  and 
nnre  than  five  wide,  the  depth,  where  greatest,  Hftce:! 
feci;  aiid  its  botloni,  consi^-tingi>f  nuid  like  the  swamp, 
but  sr-nietimes  with  a  pure  white  sand,  a  foot  deep,  coy* 


I  A 


H, 


'  M 


f:.u\ 


:  i  H 


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:  ^-^iu^] 


•w 


m 


;.J   I^^^ 


118 


ORIGIN    OP    COAL. 


ClIAP.  VII. 


ering  the  mud.  The  water  i^^  transparent,  though 
tinged  of  a  pale  hrown-colour,  like  tliat  of  our  [)eat- 
mosses',  and  contains  ahundance  of  fish.  This  sheet 
of  water  is  usually  even  with  its  hanks,  on  which  a 
thick  and  tall  forest  grows.  There  is  no  beach,  for  the 
l)ank  sinks  perpendicularly,  so  that  if  the  waters  are 
lowered  several  fiM.'t  it  makes  no  alteration  in  the 
breadth  of  the  lake. 

Much  timber  has  been  cut  down  and  carried  out 
from  the  swamp  by  means  of  canals,  which  are  per- 
fectly straight  for  long  distances,  with  the  trees  on  each 
side  arching  over  and  almost  joining  their  branches 
across,  so  that  they  throw  a  dark  shade  on  the  water, 
which  of  itself  looks  black,  being  coloured  as  before 
mentioned.  When  the  boats  emerge  from  the  gloom 
of  these  avenues  into  the  lake,  the  scene  is  said  to  be 
"as  beautiful  as  fairyland." 

The  bears  inhabiting  the  swamp  climb  trees  in 
pcarcii  of  acorns  and  niim  berries,  breakiuir  olV  larTC 
boughs  of  the  oaks  in  order  to  draw  the  acorns  near 
to  them.  These  same  boars  are  said  to  kill  hogs  and 
even  cows.  There  are  also  wild  cats,  and  occasionally 
a  solitary  wolf,  in  the  morass. 

That  the  ancient  seams  of  coal  were  produced  for 
the  most  part  by  terrestrial  plants  of  all  sizes,  hot  drift- 
ed, but  growing  on  the  spot,  is  a  theory  more  and  more 
generally  adopted  in  modern  times,  and  the  growth  of 
what  is  called  sponge  in  such  a  swamp,  and  in  such  a 
climate  as  the  Great  Dismal,  already  covering  so  man} 
square  miles  of  a  low  level  region  bordering  th«^ 
sea,  and  capable  of  spreading  itself  indefinitely  over 
the  adjacent  country,  helps  us  greatly  to  conceive  the 
rianner  in  which  the  coal  of  the  ancient  Carboniferous 


».riAf  ni 


ORIGIN   OP   COAL. 


110 


•ocks  may  have  bcon  formed.  The  heat,  porhnps,  may 
not  have  hocn  excessive  wlieii  flu?  (•o:il-m(*asures  orii;!- 
natcil,  hut  the  entire  a])seiice  of  frost,  with  a  wjirm  and 
dam|)  atmosphere,  may  have  onahled  tropical  forms  to 
tlonrish  in  latitude;^  far  (hstant  from  tlie  hne.  IIn<ro 
swamps  in  a  rainy  cHmate,  ntanchncf  above  tiic  level  of 
the  surrounding  firm  land,  and  supporting  a  dense 
forest,  may  have  spread  far  and  wide,  invading  the 
plains,  like  some  European  peat-mosses  when  they 
burst;  and  the  frecpient  submergence  of  these  masses 
of  vegetable  matter  l)encath  seas  or  estuaries,  as  often 
as  the  land  sunk  down  during  subterranean  move- 
ments, may  liave  given  rise  to  the  deposition  of  strata 
of  mud,  sand,  or  limestone,  immediately  upon  the 
vegetable  matter.  The  conversion  of  successive  sur- 
faces  into  dry  land,  where  other  swamps  supporting 
trees  may  have  formed,  might  give  origin  to  a  continu- 
ed series  cf  coal-measures  of  great  thickness.  In  some 
kinds  of  coal,  the  vegetable  texture  is  apparent  through- 
out under  the  microscope  ;  in  others  it  has  only  par- 
tially disappeared  ;  but  even  in  this  coal  the  llattened 
trunks  of  trees  of  the  genera  Lcjiidodendron,  iSi^^il- 
laria,  and  others,  converted  into  pure  coal,  are  occa- 
sionally met  with,  and  erect  fossil  trees  are  ol)scrved  in 
the  overlying  strata,  terminating  downwards  in  scams 
of  coal.  The  chemical  processes  by  which  vegetable 
matter  buried  in  the  earth  is  gradually  tinned  into 
coal  and  anthracite  has  been  already  explained  (see 
above,  p.  72.). 

Before  concluding  the  remarks  which  are  naturally 
suggested  by  a  visit  to  the  Great  Dismal,  I  shall  say  a 
few  words  on  a  popular  doctrine,  favoured  by  some  ge* 
ologists,  respecting  an  atmosphere  highly  charged  with 


If 


u 


r 


'» 


f  ;  i 


I'll 


il 


I 


,  i 


120 


THEORY    OF    ATMOSPIIKIIE 


CiiAr.  va 


f 


II  If',  r'i'  ■'l:*i«''■'- 


carbonic  aciil,  in  which  the  coal  plants  are  Puppo>e;i  in 
liavf!  floinishcLl.  Sonio  imaccinc  the  air  to  have  boon 
so  full  of  chokt'-danip  diirin<^  the  ancient  era  alluded  to, 
that  it  was  unfitted  for  the  rei^piration  of  warm-blooded 
quadrupeds  and  birds,  or  even  reptiles,  which  rec|uire  a 
more  rapid  oxygenation  of  their  blood  than  creatures 
lower  in  the  scale  of  organization,  such  as  liave  alone 
been  met  witli  hitherto  in  the  Carboniferous  and  older 
strata.  It  is  assumed  that  an  excess  of  oxygen  was  set 
free  when  the  plants  which  elaborated  the  coal  sub- 
tracted many  bundled  million  tons  of  carbon  from 
the  carbonic  acifl  gas  which  previously  loaded  the  air. 
All  this  carbon  was  then  permanently  locked  up  in 
solid  seams  of  coal,  and  the  chemical  composition  of 
the  eaitli's  atmosohere  cs?entialiv  altered. 

But  they  who  reason  thus  are  bound  to  inform  us 
what  may  have  been  the  duration  of  the  period  in  the 
course  of  which  so  much  carbon  was  secreted  by  the 
powers  of  vegcUd,)lc  life,  and,  secondly,  what  accession 
of  fresh  carbjiiic  acid  did  the  air  receive  in  the  same. 
V\'c  kiiovv  that  in  the  present  state  of  the  globe,  the 
air  is  contimudly  supplied  with  carbonic  acid  from 
several  sources,  of  which  the  three  principal  are,  first, 
the  daily  jiutrefactien  of  dead  animal  and  vegetable 
su'ostances  :  secondly,  the  disint(\2'i'ation  of  rocks  char- 
g.'A  \v\\\\  carbonicaci  I  and  organic  matter;  and,  tiiirdly, 
the  copious  evolution  of  this  gas  from  mineral  springs 
and  the  earth,  especioUy  in  volcanic  countries.  By 
that  law  which  causes  two  gases  of  dilFerent  specilic 
gravity,  when  brought  into  contact,  to  become  uni- 
formly dirfused  and  mutually  ai)-n!!)ed  through  the 
whole  spiC(.'  which  tlu^y  occupy,  the  heavy  car!)onic 
acid  Ihido  its  way  upwards  throii  jh  all  parts  of  the  at- 


iiiii  I 


; :  ni 


»1 


ClUP.  Vll.      CIIAUGED    WITH    CARBONIC    ACID. 


121 


I  , 


mfi»-iei(\  am]  the  solid  rnalerials  of  largo  forests  are 
given  out  from  the  earth  iii  an  invisible  form,  or  in 
bu!)hli's  rising  through  the  water  of  springs.  Peat- 
mosses of  no  slight  depth,  and  covering  thousands  of 
squaie  miles,  are  thus  fed  with  their  mineral  constitu- 
ents without  materially  derangmg  the  constituents  of 
the  atmosphere  breathed  by  man.  Thousands  of  trees 
grow  up,  Iloat  down  to  the  delta  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
other  rivers,  and  are  buried,  and  yet  the  air,  at  the  end 
of  many  centuries,  may  be  as  much  impregnated  with 
carbonic  acid  as  before. 

Coral  reefs  are  3^ear  after  year  growing  in  the  ocean 
— springs  and  rivers  feed  the  same  ocean  with  carbonic 
acid  and  lime ;  but  we  have  no  reason  to  infer  that 
when  mountain  masses  of  calcareous  rock  have  thus 
been  gradually  formed  in  the  sea,  any  essential  change 
in  the  chemical  composition  of  its  w^aters  has  been 
brought  about.  We  have  no  accurate  data  as  yet  for 
measuring  whether  in  our  own  time,  or  at  any  remote 
geological  era,  the  relative  supply  and  consumption  of 
carbon  in  the  air  or  the  ocean  causes  the  amount  of 
those  elements  to  vary  greatly  ;  but  the  variation,  if 
admitted,  would  not  have  caused  an  excess,  but  rather 
a  deficit  of  carbon  in  the  periods  most  productive  of  C09.I 
or  peat,  as  compared  to  any  subsequent  or  antecedent 
epochs.  In  fact,  a  climate  favouring  the  rank  and  lux 
urious  growth  of  plants,  and  at  the  same  time  check 
ing  their  decay,  and  giving  rise  to  peat  or  accumula 
tions  of  vegetable  matter,  might,  for  the  time,  diminish 
the  average  amount  of  car])onic  acid  in  the  atmosphere 
— a  state  of  things  precisely  the  reverse  of  that  assu- 
med by  those  to  whose  views  I  am  now  objecting. 

11 


:|'l' 


5i 


ff 


I 
1 

r.-v-' 

■,ij 

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\ 

.1 
i 

'\l' 


7       I 


y\ 


I   , 


122 


VOUR   TO   CHARLESTON. 


Chip,  m 


I* 


I  r 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Tour  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina. — Facilities  of  Locomotion 

Augusta. — Voyage  down  the  Savannah  River. — Shell  Bluff. — 
Slave-labour. — Fever  and  Ague. — Millhaven. — Pine  Forests  of 
Georgia. — Alligators  and  Land -Tortoises. — Warmth  of  Climate 
in  January. — Tertiary  Strata  on  the  Savannah. — Fossil  Remains 
of  Mastodon  and  Mylodon  near  Savannah. — Passports  required 
of  Slaves. — Cheerfulness  of  th.e  Negroes. 

Dec.  28. — Charleston,  South  Carolina.  We  ar- 
rived here  after  a  journey  of  160  miles  through  the 
pine  forests  of  North  Carolina,  between  Weldon  and 
Wilmington,  and  a  voyage  of  about  17  hours,  in  a 
steam  ship,  chiefly  in  the  night  between  Wilmington 
and  this  place.  Here  we  find  ourselves  in  a  genial  cli- 
mate, where  the  snow  is  rarely  seen,  and  never  lies 
above  an  hour  or  two  upon  the  ground.  The  rose,  the 
narcissus,  and  other  flowers,  are  still  lingering  in  the 
gardens,  the  woods  still  verdant  with  the  magnolia,  live 
oak,  and  long-leaved  pine,  while  the  dwarf  fan  palm 
or  palmetto,  frequent  among  the  underwood,  marks  a 
more  southern  region.  In  less  than  four  weeks  since 
we  left  Boston,  we  have  passed  from  the  43d  to  the  33d 
degree  of  latitude,  carried  often  by  the  power  of  steam 
for  several  hundred  miles  together  through  thinly  peo- 
pled wildernesses,  yet  sleeping  every  night  at  good  inns, 
and  contrasting  the  facihties  of  locomotion  in  this  new 
country  with  the  difficulties  we  had  contended  with 
the  year  before  when  travelUng  in  Europe,  through 
populous  parts  of  Touraine,  Brittany,  and  other  prov- 
inces of  France. 


be 


'^i:  •.■*■■; 


i 


Chap,  viil 


AUGUSTA. 


123 


I'  i  I  ■  n 


At  Charleston  I  made  acquaintance  with  several 
persons  zealously  engaged  hi  the  study  of  natural  nis- 
tory,  and  then  went  by  an  excellent  railway  130  luilea 
through  the  endless  pine  woods  to  Augusta,  in  Georgia. 
This  journey,  which  would  formerly  have  taken  a 
week,  was  accomplished  between  sunrise  and  sunset ; 
and,  as  we  scarcely  saw  by  the  way  any  town  or  vil- 
lage, or  even  a  clearing,  nor  any  human  habitation  ex- 
cept the  station  houses,  the  spirit  of  enterprise  displayed 
in  such  public  works  filled  me  with  astonishment  which 
increased  the  farther  I  went  South.  Starting  from  the 
sea-side,  and  imagining  'hat  we  had  been  on  a  level  the 
whole  way,  we  were  surprised  to  find  in  the  evening, 
on  reaching  the  village  of  Aikin,  sixteen  miles  from 
Augusta,  that  we  were  on  a  height  several  hundred 
feet  above  the  sea,  and  that  we  had  to  descend  a  steep 
inclined  plane  to  the  valley  of  the  Savannah  river. 
The  strata  cut  through  here  in  making  the  railway 
consist  of  vermilion-coloured  earth  and  clay,  and  white 
quartzose  sand,  with  masses  of  pure  white  kaolin  in- 
termixed. These  strata  belong  to  the  older  or  Eocene 
tertiary  formation,  which  joins  th«_  clay-slate  and  gra- 
nitic region  a  few  miles  above  Augusta,  where  I  visited 
the  rapids  of  tlie  Savannah. 

I  had  been  warned  by  my  scientific  friends  in  the 
North,  that  the  hospitality  of  the  planters  might  greatly 
interfere  with  my  schemes  of  geologizing  in  the  South- 
ern states.  In  the  letters,  therefore,  of  introduction  fur- 
nished to  me  at  Washington,  it  was  particularly  re- 
qi;ested  that  information  respecting  my  objects,  and  fa- 
cilities of  moving  speedily  from  place  to  place,  should 
be  given  me,  instead  of  dinners  and  society.  These 
injunctions  were  every  where  kindly  and  politely  com- 


■  I 


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■*• 


fl  'l 

H      |i 

i  if'-* 

I 


h 


124 


SIIETL    RLUFF. 


Chap.  viii. 


plied  with.  It  was  my  intention,  for  the  sake  of  get- 
ting a  correct  notion  of  the  low  country  hetween  the 
granitic  region  and  tlie  Atlantic-,  to  examine  the  clilfs 
bounding  tiie  Savannah  river  from  its  rapids  to  near  its 
mouth,  a  distance,  including  its  windings,  of  about  250 
miles.  After  passing  a  few  days  at  Augusta,  where, 
for  the  first  time,  I  saw  cotton  growing  in  the  fields,  I 
embarked  in  a  steam-boat  employed  in  the  cotton  trade, 
and  went  for  forty  miles  down  the  great  river,  which 
usually  flows  in  a  broad  alluvial  plain,  with  an  aver- 
age fall  of  about  one  foot  per  mile,  or  250  feet  between 
Augusta  and  the  sea.  Like  the  Mississippi  and  all 
large  rivers,  which,  in  the  Hood  season,  are  densely 
charged  with  sediment,  the  Savannah  has  its  inunedi  • 
ate  banks  higher  than  the  plain  intervening  between 
them  and  the  high  grounds  beyond,  which  usually, 
however  distant  from  the  river,  present  a  steep  cliff  or 
"  bluff"  towards  it.  The  low  flat  alluvial  plain,  over- 
flowed in  great  part  at  this  rainy  season,  is  covered  with 
aquatic  trees,  and  an  ornamental  growth  of  tall  canes, 
some  of  them  reaching  a  height  of  twenty  feet,  being 
from  one  to  two  inches  in  diameter,  and  with  their 
leaves  still  green.  The  lofty  cedar  (Cf/pressiis  distl- 
ch(i),  now  Ic^adess,  towers  above  them,  and  is  remarka- 
ble for  the  angular  bends  of  (he  top  boughs,  and  the 
large  thick  roots  which  swell  out  near  (he  base. 

1  landed  first  at  a  cliff  about  120  feet  high,  called 
Shell  Bluff,  from  the  large  fossil  oysters  wliich  are  con- 
spicuous there.  About  forty  miles  below  Augusta,  at 
Demary's  Ferry,  the  place  where  we  disembarked,  the 
waters  were  so  liigli  that  we  were  carried  on  shore  by 
two  stout  negroes.  In  the  al)sence  of  the  proprietor  to 
whom  1  had  letters,  we  were  hospitably  received  by  his 


Chap.  vm. 


SLAVE    LABOUR. 


12iA 


overseer,  who  came  down  to  the  river  hank,  with  (avo 
led  iiorses,  on  one  of  wliicii  was  a  lady's  saddh.  lie 
conducted  us  through  a  beautiful  wood,  whore  the  ver- 
dure of  the  evergreen  oaks,  the  pines,  and  hollies,  and 
the  mildness  of  the  air,  made  it  difficult  for  us  to  be- 
lieve that  it  was  mid-winter,  and  that  we  had  been  the 
month  before  in  a  region  of  snow  storms  and  sledges. 
AVe  crossed  two  creeks,  and  after  riding  several  miles 
readied  the  house,  and  were  shown  into  a  sj)acious 
room,  where  a  great  wood  fire  was  kept  up  constantly 
on  the  hearth,  and  the  doors  on  both  sides  left  open  day 
and  night. 

Returning  home  to  this  hospitable  mansion  in  the 
dusk  of  the  evening  of  the  day  following,  I  was  siu- 
prised  to  see,  in  a  grove  of  trees  near  the  court-yard  of 
the  farm,  a  large  wood-fire  blazing-  on  the  ground. 
Over  the  fire  hung  three  cauldrons,  filled,  as  I  after- 
wards learned,  with  hog's  lard,  and  tluce  old  negro  wo- 
men, in  their  usual  drab-coloured  costume,  were  leaning 
over  the  cauldrons,  and  stirring  the  lard  to  clarify  it. 
The  red  glare  of  the  fire  was  reflected  from  th<ni'  faces, 
and  I  need  hardly  say  how  much  they  reminded  me 
of  the  scene  of  the  witches  in  Macbeth.  Beside  them, 
moving  slowly  backwards  and  forwards  in  a  rocking- 
chair,  sat  the  wife  of  the  overseer,  muffled  up  in  a 
cloak,  and  sulTering  from  a  severe  cold,  but  obliged  to 
watch  the  old  slaves,  who  are  as  thoughtless  as  chil- 
dren, and  might  spoil  the  lard  if  she  turned  away  her 
head  for  a  few  minutes.  When  I  inquired  the  mean- 
ing of  this  ceremony,  I  was  told  it  was  "  killing  time," 
tins  being  the  coldest  season  of  the  year,  and  that  since 
I  left  the  farm  in  th(^  morning  thirty  hogs  had  been 
sacrificed  by  the  side  of  a  running  stream  not  far  ofT. 

11* 


TPli 

!|l 

■■■'  ,i\ 

i 

!■'■■■ 

w 


41 


. 


If: 


;  I 


■*  S  «  ;  I 


VI 


' .  1. 


120 


FEVER    AND    AGUE. 


Chap,  vjil 


I* 


hir 


\m 


These  were  destined  to  serve  as  winter  provisions  for 
the  ne<^roes,  of  whom  there  were  ahout  a  hundred  on 
this  plantation.  I'o  supply  all  of  them  with  food, 
clothes,  and  medical  attendants,  young,  old,  and  impo- 
tent, as  well  as  the  able-bodied,  is  but  a  portion  of  the 
expense  of  slave-labour.  They  must  be  continually 
superintended  by  trustworthy  whites,  who  might  oitoa 
peiform  no  small  part  of  the  task,  and  far  more  ellec- 
tively,  with  their  own  hands. 

I  Ibssilized  for  three  days  very  diligently  at  Shell 
BlulF,  obtaining  more  than  forty  species  of  shells,  chiefly 
casts,  referable  to  the  Eocene  formation ;  of  which  I 
shall  speak  by-and-by. 

Resuming  our  voyage,  thirty  miles  further  down  the 
river,  in  another  large  cotton  steam-boat,  we  were 
landed  at  Stony  Bluff,  in  Georgia,  where  I  wished  to 
examine  the  rocks  of  burr-stone.  There  was  no  living 
being  or  habitation  in  sight.  The  large  steamer  van- 
ished in  an  instant,  sweeping  down  the  swollen  river  at 
the  rate  of  seventeen  miles  an  hour,  and  it  seemed  as 
if  we  had  been  dropped  down  from  a  balloon,  with  our 
luggage,  in  the  midst  of  a  wilderness.  I  began  by  ex- 
ercising my  hammer  on  the  burr-stone  of  this  low  bluff; 
a  :ellular  kind  of  flint,  sometimes  used  for  millstones, 
and  full  of  siUcified  corals  and  minute  shells,  and,  as  I 
afterwards  found,  by  aid  of  a  powerful  microscope,  of 
sponges.  It  is  an  Eocene  formation,  and  alternates 
with  beds  of  red  loam.  After  making  a  collection  of 
specimens,  I  walked  about  the  wood,  and  found  a  lone 
house,  at  the  door  of  which  a  woman  was  sitting,  in  a 
languid  state  of  health.  She  said  she  had  just  recov- 
ereil  from  the  fever,  or  chill ;  and  among  other  inqui- 
ries, asked  when  we  had  last  had  this  complaint.    On 


t/lIAP.  VIU. 


PINE    FORESTS    OF    GEORGIA. 


127 


it 


of 
tes 
of 
one 
n  a 
;0V' 
ui- 
On 


being  told  we  had  never  had  it,  she  said,  "  I  should  like 
to  live  in  your  country,  for  among  the  Whites  there  is 
not  one  in  this  section  of  Georgia  that  has  escaped." 
It  is  true,  that  consumption,  so  common  in  the  North- 
ern states,  and  so  often  fatal,  is  unknown  here ;  but  the 
universality  of  the  ague  makes  these  low  districts  in  the 
Southern  states  most  unenviable  dwelling-places.  The 
best  season  for  a  geological  tour  in  this  part  of  Georgia 
and  South  Carolina,  east  of  the  mountains,  is  from 
December  to  April  inclusive. 

I  waited  for  the  return  of  the  owner  of  the  lone 
house,  and  told  him  I  wished  to  visit  the  plantation 
of  Colonel  Jones,  at  Millhaven.  He  consented  to  let 
me  hire  his  barouche  with  one  horse,  telling  me  I  must 
send  it  back  the  best  way  I  could,  after  finding  my  own 
way  for  twelve  miles  through  the  pine  forests,  as  he 
could  spare  me  no  driver.  The  lanes  through  the  wood 
were  numerous,  and  a  storm  had  blown  down  so  many 
tall  pines  across  the  road,  each  of  which  it  was  neces- 
sary to  circumnavigate,  that  we  thought  ourselves  for- 
tunate when  we  arrived  safe  at  the  destined  haven. 
My  new  host  added  to  the  kindness  and  frankness  of  a 
Southern  planter,  what  I  had  little  expected  in  the  midst 
of  this  forest,  a  strong  love  for  my  favourite  pursuits, 
and  guided  me  at  once  to  Jacksonborough,  and  other 
neighbouring  places,  best  worthy  the  attention  of  a  ge- 
ologist. 

We  had  many  long  rides  together  through  those 
woods,  there  being  no  underwood  to  prevent  a  horse 
from  galloping  freely  in  every  direction.  The  long- 
leaved  pines  emit  a  faint  odour  somewhat  resembling 
that  of  the  hyacinth,  and  their  bright-green  foliage  was 
fr\ely  brought  out  against  the  clear  blue  sky.    The  air 


H' 


:3-'    ^ 


f'.r 


;   \\ 


.     ' 


;  |H' 


128 


LAND    TOIITOIHK. 


Cl'AP    VIII. 


was  balmy,  and  unusually  waini,  even  for  Georgia  in 
the  first  week  of  January.  We  saw  several  buHerlii^s, 
one  of  a  bright  yellow  colour,  and  hats  Hying  about  in 
the  evening.  The  croaking  of  the  frog  and  the  cliirp- 
ing  of  the  cricket  were  again  heard.  They  }»ad  '  een 
silent  a  ihw  days  before,  when  the  air  was  cooler.  The 
sheep,  which  renin iii  out  in  these  woods  all  the  winter, 
are  now  followed  by  lambs  about  three  weeks  old.  I 
saw  many  black  squirrels  here,  but  only  heard  of  the 
opossum,  racoon,  bear,  and  alligator,  without  seeing  any. 
A  few  days  ago,  an  alligator  was  shot  fourteen  feet 
long,  in  the  act  of  carrying  olV  a  pig  ;  and  the  sports- 
men complain  to  me  that  they  devour  their  dogs  when 
they  follow  the  deer,  which,  on  the  first  alarm,  usually 
take  to  the  Savannah  river. 

I  frequently  observed  the  holes  of  the  gopher,  a  kind 
of  land-tortoise,  which  burrows  in  the  sand,  and  is  now 
hybernating  below  ground.  Four  or  five  inhabit  one 
hole  ;  their  eggs  are  rather  smaller  than  a  hen's.  They 
are  gregarious,  and  in  summer  are  seen  feeding  ten  or 
twelve  together  on  the  low  shrubs.  They  are  said  to 
be  very  strong  for  their  size,  and  a  negro-v/oman  as- 
sured a  lady  of  our  party  that  she  was  so  light  that  she 
jnight  be  "  toted  by  a  gopher."  We  also  saw  small 
hillocks,  such  as  are  thrown  up  by  our  moles,  made  by 
a  very  singular  animal,  which  they  call  a  salamander, 
because,  1  believe,  it  is  often  seen  to  appear  when  the 
woods  are  burnt.  It  is  not  a  reptile,  but  a  species  of 
rat  {Pseudostoma  pinetorum)^  with  pouches  ^n  its 
cheeks. 

On  quitting  Millhaven,  instead  of  continuing  my 
voyage  down  the  river,  I  hired  a  carriage  to  convey  us 
to  the  town  of  Savannah,  a  distance  of  nearly  one  hun- 


Chap.  viii. 


TURKEY-nUZZARUS. 


129 


drcd  miles.  Here  and  there  I  went  down  from  the 
high  road  to  examine  tiie  river-cHlls,  consistinu^  of  bri<^lit 
red-coloured  loam,  red  and  grey  clay,  and  white  sand. 
At  Hudson's  Reach  and  other  points  I  found  Ko- 
cene  shells  and  fishes'  teeth,  chiefly  of  the  genera  ATt/- 
liobatcs  and  Lamiia.  One  day,  on  returning  from 
the  river,  1  came  suddenly  in  the  wood  on  some  turkey- 
buzzards  feeding  on  a  dead  hog.  I  had  often  seen  since 
we  crossed  the  Potomac  these  large  black  and  grey  birds 
soaring  at  a  great  height  in  the  air,  but  I  was  now  sur- 
prised to  see  one  of  them  perch  on  a  stump  a  few  yards 
from  me,  and  seem  jierfectly  fearless.  In  our  last  day's 
journey,  I  remarked,  for  the  first  time  in  America,  a 
large  tlight  of  rooks,  some  wheeling  about  in  the  air, 
others  perched  on  trees. 

Near  the  village  of  Ebenezer  we  passed  over  a  long 
causeway,  made  of  logs,  which  for  three  quarters  of  a 
mile  was  under  water.  The  tall  cedars  {Cupressus 
dis'ticha),  and  other  trees  arching  over  and  forming  a 
long  aisle,  reminded  me  exactly  of  the  descri|)tion9 
^iven  of  the  canals  in  the  Great  Dismal  Swamp. 
Some  of  the  myrtles  in  these  wet  grounds  are  very 
fragi'ant. 

We  were  pursuing  a  line  of  road  not  much  frequent- 
ed of  late,  since  the  establishment  of  the  railway  from 
Augusta  to  Charleston.  Our  arrival,  therefore,  at  the 
inns  wxj  usually  a  surprise,  and  instead  of  being  wel- 
comed, we  were  invariably  recommended  to  go  on  far- 
ther. When  once  admitted,  we  were  made  very  com- 
fortable,  having  our  meals  wuth  the  family,  and  being 
treated  more  like  guests  than  customers.  On  one  occa- 
sion our  driver,  to  whose  brother  our  carriage  and  horses 
belonged,  fell  in  with  the  son  of  a  neighbouring  planter 


4!     ' 


•'i 


'  'I 


!?■ 


i  •    ' 


u 


•(■ 


iH 


i;'  I'. 

;      .1; 


'•"!» : 

1 

t      ■ 

;■'!■.'                                        -■ 

i 

^1:                1 

■    'i  . 

^  'i " 

'") 

ii 

130 


ARRIVAI,    AT    SA\ANNAII. 


ClIAf.  Tltl. 


who  roproiiclied  him  in  a  IVieiidly  iiianiirr  for  not,  hav- 
inj^conK!  to  his  house  the  Mi<:|;iit  hefbic,  and  brong^ht  us 
wiili  liiui.  'I'lio  social  (Mjuaiity  which  prevails  here 
arises  not  so  much  from  the  spirit  of  a  republican  ^ov- 
cninieiit,  as  from  the  fact  of  the  whites  constituting  an 
aristocracy  for  whom  the  negroes  work.  Had  we 
availed  ourselves  of  letters  of  introduction  freely  ollered 
to  us,  we  might  have  passed  from  the  house  of  one  hos- 
pitable planter  to  another,  and  heard  as  little  of  reckon- 
ings at  imis  as  Don  Q,uixote  expected,  after  his  study 
of  the  histories  of  knights  errant. 

Jan.  10.  1842. — On  the  tenth  day  after  leaving  Au- 
gusta, W(;  arrived  at  Savannah,  from  which  town  I  im- 
mediately sot  out  on  an  excursion  through  a  flat, 
swampy  covmtry.  resembling  a  large  delta,  to  Beauly 
and  the  Vernon  river,  about  fifteen  miles  to  the  south- 
east. I  went  by  Meyner's  Bridge,  on  the  White  Bluff 
creek,  to  see  a  spot  about  twelve  miles  from  Savannah, 
where  I  had  learnt  from  Dr.  Habersham  that  bones  of 
the  mastmlon  and  other  extinct  mammalia  had  been 
discovered.  The  bed  of  clay,  about  six  feet  thick,  con- 
taining them,  can  only  be  seen  at  low  water,  and  I  de- 
scended to  it  in  a  boat  when  the  tide  was  out ;  and  by 
the  aid  of  the  negroes,  obtained  the  grinder  of  the 
conunon  American  mastodon.  The  stratum  enclosing 
these  and  other  bones  rests  immediately  on  sand  con- 
taining mirine  shells  of  living  species,  and  is  covered 
by  the  mud  of  a  freshwater  swamp,  in  which  trees 
groA\'  and  when  thrown  down  by  the  winds,  become 
occasionally  imbedded.  One  of  the  teeth  given  to  me 
from  this  place  by  Dr.  Habersham  w'as  ascertained,  by 
Mr.  Owen,  to  be  referable  to  his  new  genus,  Mi/lodon. 
Mr.  Hamilton  Couper  afterwards  sent  me  from  a  similar 


CiiAr.  VIII 


FOSSIL    REMAINS. 


131 


geologiciil  poHition,  farther  south  in  Georgia,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Altarnuha,  tlie  tooth  of  a  megatherium. 
It  ia  evident,  from  liis  observations  and  my  own,  tliat  at 
a  comparatively  recent  period  since  the  Atlantic  was 
inhabited  by  the  existing  species  of  marine  testacea, 
there  was  an  upheaval  and  laying  dry  of  the  bed  of 
the  ocean  in  this  region.  The  new  land  supported 
forests  in  which  the  mcgalherium,  myhxlon,  mastodon, 
elephant,  a  species  of  horse  different  from  the  common 
one,  and  other  (juadrupeds,  lived,  and  were  occasion- 
ally buried  in  the  swanjps.  There  have  also  been  sub- 
sidences on  the  coast,  and  perhaps,  far  inland ;  for  in 
many  places  near  the  sea  there  are  signs  of  the  forest 
having  become  submerged,  the  remains  of  erect  trees 
being  seen  enveloped  in  stratified  mud  and  sand:  I 
even  suspect  that  this  coast  is  now  sinking  down,  at  a 
slow  and  insensible  rate,  for  the  sea  is  encroaching  and 
gaining  at  many  points  on  the  freshwater  marshes. 
Thus  at  Beauly  I  found  upright  stumps  of  trees  of  the 
pine,  cedar,  and  ilex  covered  with  live  oysters  and  bar- 
nacles, and  exposed  at  low  tide  ;  the  deposit  in  which 
they  were  buried  having  been  recently  washed  away 
from  around  them  by  the  waves.  I  also  observed,  that 
the  flat  country  of  marshes  was  bounded  on  its  western 
or  inland  side  by  a  steep  bank  or  ancient  cliff  cut  in  the 
sandy  tertiary  strata,  and  there  are  other  inland  cliflfs  of 
the  same  kind  at  different  heights  implying  the  suc- 
cessive elevation  above  the  sea  of  the  whole  tertiary 
region. 

Not  only  in  South  Carohna  and  Georgia,  but  also  in 
the  low  region  of  North  Carolina,  as,  for  example,  fif- 
teen miles  below  Newbern,  the  remains  of  extinct 
quadrupeds  have  been  met  with.     The  tooth  of  a 


•■it     ■ 


i, 


I 


1  ,1 


132 


FOSSIL    REMAINS. 


Chap.  vui. 


m 


^N 


•iM 


i;)'!' 


horse  foiiiul  in  the  latter  place,  with  the  bones  of  mas- 
todon, elephant,  and  other  nianmuilia,  was  presented  to 
me  by  Mr.  Conrad,  remarkably  curved,  and  afric.jn^, 
in  this  respect,  with  a  fossil  tooth  discovered  by  Mr. 
Darwin  on  the  north  side  of  the  Plata,  in  Enlre  J<ios, 
in  South  America,  where  it  accompanied  the  nmstodon 
and  megjithcrium.  As  no  species  of  ecpuis  existed  in 
the  New  World  when  it  was  discovered  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  naturalists  were  inclined,  at  first,  to  be  in- 
credulous in  rcLi^ard  to  the  real  anlicjuity  of  this  fossil; 
but  as  the  tooth  is  more  curved  than  in  the  recent 
horse,  ass,  or  zebra,  the  fossil  species  nuiy  have;  diHered 
as  widely  from  any  livinj^  representative  of  liiis  <reiiu.s, 
as  the  zebra  or  wild  ass  from  the  horse  of  Arabia. 

It  is  a  fact  wvW  worthy  of  attention  that  in  the 
southern  states  of  the  Union  so  many  extinct  ((uadru- 
peds,  such  as  the  mastodon,  elephant,  megatlicrimn, 
mylodon,  and  horse,  should  occur,  agreeing,  some  spe- 
cificially  and  others  in  generic  cbaracfers,  with  those 
found  in  corresponding  latitudes  in  South  America  near 
the  river  Plata,  and  in  Patagonia,  or  between  latitudes 
31°  and  50*-^  S.,  and  that  in  both  hemispheres  they 
should  be  accompanied  by  marine  fossil  shells  of  recent 
species,  as  Mr.  Darw^in  has  shown  to  be  the  case  in  the 
Pampas.  Yet,  although  tliese  quadrupeds  are  so 
modern,  geologically  speaking,  as  to  have  co-existed 
with  the  present  testaceous  fauna,  we  cannot  attribute 
their  extermination  to  the  agency  of  man  ;  for  it  is  not 
the  huge  beasts  alone,  but  quadrupeds  as  small  as  the 
rat,  which  have  become  extinct  in  South  America 
within  the  same  period,  as  Mr.  Lund,  the  Danish  nat- 
uralist, has  shown  in  reference  to  Brazil. 

On  the  beach  at  Beauly  I  saw  numerous  foot-tracks 


»M 


CiCAP.  VMI. 


LAND    CRABS. 


133 


of  racoons  and  opossuniM  on  the  sand,  wliiili  liad  I  ecn 
made  duiiii.;'  the  (jur  hours  inuniNhately  precedin-r,  or 
since  the  ehhinj^f  of  tlie  tide.  Ah'cady  some  of  tlioni 
were  half  iilh^d  with  fni<?  hlown  sand,  showini?  the  pro- 
cess hy  which  distinct  casts  may  he  fornietl  of  th(;  foot- 
steps of  animals  in  a  stratum  of  (piart/oso  sandstone. 
I  remarked  that  tho  tracks  of  flie  racoons  could  he 
traced  at  several  points  to  l)(;ds  of  oysters,  on  which 
these  animals  are  said  to  leed.  'I'lu^  nci^roes  told  me, 
that  sometimes  a  larj^o  oyster  closes  his  slwll  suddenly, 
and  holds  the  racoon  fast  hy  his  paw  till  the  returning- 
tide  comes  up  and  drowns  him. 

The  surface  of  the  beach  f(jr  half  a  mile  was  cover- 
ed with  small  rotmd  pellets  of  nmd  as  thick  as  liail- 
stones,  of  the  size  of  currants  and  peas,  atul  arrani2;ed 
for  the  most  part  in  small  heaps.  '^Phese  are  made  hy 
thousands  of  land  crabs  {Gtlasimiis  vncans  ?),  which 
they  call  fiddlers,  because  the  motion  of  their  claws  is 
compared  to  the  arm  of  a  player  on  the  violin.  Hy 
the  side  of  each  heap  was  a  perpendicular  hole  several 
inches  deep,  into  which  when  alarmed  the  crab  retreats 
sideways,  sometimes  disappearing]:,  but  often  leaving"  the 
larger  claw  projecting  al)ove  for  want  of  room.  They 
make  these  holes  by  rolling  the  wet  sand  into  pellets, 
and  then  bringing  up  each  ball  separately  to  the  sur- 
face. 

A  planter  of  this  country  told  me  it  was  amusing  to 
see  a  Hock  of  turkies  driven  down  for  the  first  time  from 
the  interior  to  feed  on  the  crabs  in  the  marine  marshes. 
They,  at  first,  walk  about  in  a  ludicrous  state  of  alarm, 
expecting  their  toes  to  be  pinched,  but  after  a  time,  one 
bolder  than  the  rest  is  tempted  by  hunger  to  snap  up  a 
small  fiddler,  after  which  the  rest  fall  to  and  devour 

12 


I  .  I  ♦ 


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.  I' 


I 'I 


n 


W'-  I'm     ii 


134       PASSPORTS    llEaUIRED    FOR    SLAVES.      CitAP.rni. 

them  by  thousands.  On  my  way  through  the  woods 
in  this  low  region  near  Savannah,  I  saw  some  fine 
magnolias  ninety  feet  high,  palmettos  six  feet  high  in 
tufts,  and  oaks  hung  with  white  pendant  wreaths, 
sometimes  ten  feet  long,  of  the  wiry  parasitic  Tillandsia 
usnseoides.  This  clhnber,  which  also  festoons  tlie 
woods  in  South  America,  much  resembles  the  lichen 
called  in  England  "  old  man's  beard,"  but  is  a  pheno- 
gamous  plant. 

In  order  to  see  the  bed  of  clay  containing  the  bones 
of  the  mastodon  at  Heyner's  Bridge,  it  was  necessary 
for  me  to  be  on  the  ground  by  daybreak  at  low  tide. 
With  this  view,  I  left  Savannah  in  the  middle  of  the 
night.  The  owner  of  the  property  kindly  lent  me  his 
black  servant  as  a  guide,  and  I  found  him  provided 
with  a  passport,  without  which  no  slave  can  go  out  af- 
ter dusk.  The  exact  streets  through  wiiich  he  was  to 
pass  in  his  way  to  me  were  prescribed,  and  had  he 
strayed  from  this  route  he  might  have  been  committed 
to  the  guard-house.  These  and  other  precautionary 
regulations,  equally  irksome  to  the  slaves  and  their  mas- 
ters, are  said  to  have  become  necessary  after  an  insur- 
rection brought  on  by  abolitionist  missionaries,  who  are 
spoken  of  here  in  precisely  the  same  tone  as  incendi- 
aries, or  beasts  of  prey  whom  it  would  be  meritorious  to 
shoot  or  hang.  In  this  savage  and  determined  spirit  I 
heard  some  planters  speak  who  were  mild  in  their  man- 
ners, and  evidently  indulgent  to  their  slaves.  Nearly 
half  the  entire  population  of  this  state  are  of  the 
coloured  race,  who  are  said  to  be  as  excitable  as  they 
are  ignorant.  Many  proprietors  live  with  their  wives 
and  children  quite  isolated  in  the  midst  of  the  slaves,  so 


CitAf  Tin. 


NEGRO   COACHMAN. 


135 


that  the  danger  of  any  popular  movement  is  truly  ap- 
palling. 

The  negroes,  so  far  as  I  have  yet  seen  them,  whe- 
ther in  domestic  service  or  on  the  farms,  appear  very 
cheeiful  and  free  from  care,  better  fed  than  a  large  part 
of  the  labouring  class  of  Europe  ;  and,  though  meanly 
dressed,  and  often  in  patched  garments,  never  scantily 
clothed  for  the  climate.  We  asked  a  woman  in 
Georgia,  whether  she  was  the  slave  of  a  family  of  our 
acquaintance.  She  replied,  merrily,  "  Yes,  I  belong  to 
them,  and  they  belong  to  me."  She  was,  in  fact,  born 
and  brought  up  on  the  estate. 

On  another  occasion  we  were  proceeding  in  a  well- 
appointed  carriage  with  a  planter,  when  we  came  un- 
expectedly to  a  dead  halt.  Inquiring  the  cause,  the 
black  coachman  said  he  had  dropped  one  of  his  white 
gloves  on  the  road,  and  must  drive  back  and  try  to  find 
it.  He  could  not  recollect  within  a  mile  where  he  had 
last  seen  it :  we  remonstrated,  but  in  vain.  As  time 
pressed,  the  master  in  despair  took  off  his  own  gloves, 
and  saying  he  had  a  second  pair,  gave  them  to  him. 
When  our  charioteer  had  deliberately  put  them  on,  we 
started  again. 


i 


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11 


i  1 


= 


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136 


RETURN   TO   CHARLESTON. 


Chap.  iz. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Return  to  Charleston. — Fossil  Huma'.  Skeleton. — Geographical  Dis- 
trilnitiim  of  Quadrupeds  in  North  America. — Severe  Frost  in  1835 
in  South  Carolina. —  White  Limestone  of  the  Cooper  Ricer  and 
Sanfee  Canal. — Referred  to  the  Eocene  Period,  not  intermediate 
between  Tertiary  and  Chalk. — Lime-sinks. — Species  of  Shells  com- 
mon to  Eocene  Strata  in  America  and  Europe. — Causes  of  the  in- 
creased Insalahrity  of  lite  Low  Region  of  South  Carolina. — Con- 
dition of  the  Slace  Population. — Cheerfulness  of  the  Negroes : 
their  Vaniti/. — State  of  Animal  Existence. — Invalidity  of  Mar- 
riages.—  The  Coloured  Population  multiply  faster  than  the  Whites. 
— Effects  of  the  Interference  of  Abolitionists. — Laws  against  Edu- 
cation.— Gradual  Emancipation  equally  desirable  for  the  Whites 
and  the  Coloured  Race. 

Jan.  13.  1842. — From  Savannah  we  returned  to 
Charleston  in  a  steam-ship,  on  board  of  which  we  found 
an  agreeable  party,  consisting  chiefly  of  officers  of  tlie 
U.  S.  army  returning  from  Florida,  where  tliey  had 
nearly  brought  to  a  close  a  war  of  extermination  carried 
on  for  many  years  against  the  Seminole  Indians.  They 
gave  a  lively  picture  of  the  hardships  they  underwent 
in  the  swamps  and  morasses  during  this  ingloiious 
campaign,  in  the  course  of  which  the  lives  of  perhaps 
as  many  whites  as  Seminoles  were  sacrificed.  The  war 
is  said  to  have  been  provoked  by  the  attacks  of  the  In- 
dians on  new  settlers. 

In  the  Museum  at  Charleston,  I  was  shown  a  fossil 
human  skull  from  Guadaloupe,  imbedded  in  solid  lime- 
stone, which  they  say  belongs  to  the  same  skeleton  of 
a  female  as  that  now  preserved  in  the  British  Museum, 
where  the  skull  is  wanting. 


:'!! 


i! 


Chap.  ix. 


SEVERE    FROST. 


137 


Dr.  Baclinian,  whom  I  saw  here,  is  engaged  in  a 
great  work  on  the  (juadriipeds  of  North  America.  He 
pointed  out  to  nie  the  boundary  of  several  distinct  zones 
of  indigenous  niannnalia,  extending  east  and  west  on 
tliis  continent,  where  there  are  no  great  natural  barri- 
ers running  in  the  same  direction,  such  iis  mountain 
ridges,  deserts,  or  wide  arms  of  tiie  sea  to  ciieciv  tiic 
migrations  of  species.  Tlie  cHmate  alone  has  been  suf- 
ficient to  limit  their  range.  The  mannnifeious  fauna 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  comprising  about  forty  spe- 
cies, is  distinct  from  that  of  the  arctic  region  Oi!()  miles 
north  of  it,  and  described  by  Dr.  Richardson.  It  is 
equally  distinct  from  that  of  South  Carolina  and  Geor- 
gia, a  territory  about  as  far  distant  to  the  south.  In 
Texas,  where  frosts  are  unknow  n,  another  assemblage 
of  species  is  met  with.  The  opossum,  for  example,  of 
that  country  {Dldelphis  cancrivora)  is  dilferent  from 
that  of  Virginia.  The  latter  {Dklelpkis  virginiaiia) 
is  one  of  those  species  which  is  common  to  many  prov- 
inces, extending  from  Florida  as  far  north  as  Penji- 
sylvania,  where  it  has  been  observed  while  the  snow 
was  lying  two  feet  deep  on  the  ground.  The  racoon 
has  a  still  wider  habitation,  ranging  as  did  the  buffalo 
originally  {Bison  americanus)  from  the  north  of  (^'an- 
ada  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  But  these  are  exceptions 
to  the  general  rule.  Similar  restrictions  seem  to  have 
prevailed  in  the  era  of  extinct  quadrupeds,  the  great 
ni-.stodon  {M.  giffanteus)  having  evidently  aboinided 
in  Canada  and  New  York,  as  well  as  Kentucky  and 
Georgia,  while  the  megatherium  and  mylodon  were  al- 
most entirely  confined  to  the  Soutliern  States. 

When  discoursing  here  on  the  influence  of  climate, 
many  accounts  were  given  me  of  a  frost  wiiich  visited 

12* 


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%'  ,-: 


:iS\ 


^ 


J   >  ,l'l  *. 


■i    I 


138 


TERTIARY    FORMATIONS. 


Chap,  ix 


Charleston  n  February,  1835.  so  severe  that  wine  wag 
frozen  in  bottles.  The  tops  of  the  Pride-of-India  tree, 
of  Chinese  origin,  were  killed  :  all  the  oranges,  of  w  hith 
there  were  large  orchards,  were  destroyed.  Beds  of 
oysters,  exposed  between  high  and  low  water  mark, 
perished  in  the  estuaries,  and  the  effluvia  from  them 
was  so  powerful  as  to  injure  the  health  of  the  hihabi- 
tants. 

Several  planters  attribute  the  failure  of  the  cotton 
crop  this  year  (1812)  to  the  unusual  size  and  number 
of  the  icebergs,  wliich  floated  southwards  last  spring 
fi'om  Hudson's  and  Baffin's  Bays,  and  may  have  cooled 
the  sea  and  checked  the  early  growth  of  the  cotton 
plant.  So  numerous  and  remote  are  the  disturbing 
causes  in  meteorology  !  Forty  degrees  of  latitude  in 
terve.ne  between  the  region  where  the  ice-lloes  are 
generated  and  that  where  the  crops  are  raised,  whose 
death-warrant  they  are  supposed  to  have  carried  with 
them. 

Before  I  visited  the  Southern  States,  I  had  heard 
fiom  several  American  geologists  that  calcareous  rocks 
occurred  there  intermediate  in  age  between  the  chalk 
and  the  tertiary  formations,  and  helping  to  fill  the  void 
which  separates  those  two  well-marked  eras  in  the  Eu- 
ropean series.  Having  satisfied  myself  that  all  the 
white  limestone  of  the  Savannah  river  was  referable  to 
the  Eocene  epoch,  I  now  set  out  to  determine  whether 
the  same  could  be  said  of  that  exposed  to  view  on  the 
Cooper  river  and  Santee  canal,  about  thirty  miles  north 
of  Charleston.  I  was  accompanied  in  an  excursion  of 
a  week  by  Dr.  Ravenel,  who  kindly  offered  to  be  my 
guide  ;  and  we  first  visited  a  plantation  of  his,  called 
"  The  Grove,"  near  the  mouth  of  the  Cooper  river, 


:   1 


'il' 


i   , 


Chap,  ix- 


FOSSIL    MASTODON. 


139 


where,  in  the  marshes,  there  are  deep  deposits  of  clay 
and  sand,  enclosing  the  stools  and  trunkvS  of  the  cy- 
press, hickory,  and  cedar,  often  imbedded  in  an  erect 
position,  which  must  have  grown  in  fresh  water,  but 
are  now  sunk  six  and  even  sixteen  feet  below  the  level 
of  high  water.  Every  where  there  are  proofs  of  the 
coast  havmg  sunk,  and  the  subsidence  seems  to  have 
gone  on  in  very  modern  times  ;  for  some  old  cedars  still 
standing  on  the  surface  have  been  killed  by  the  encroach- 
ment of  the  salt  water.  We  had  come  from  Charles- 
ton in  a  small  private  steam-boat,  and  after  passing 
Strawberry  Ferry  and  entering  the  Santee  Canal,  were 
allowed  by  favour  to  pass  through  the  locks  without 
paying  tolls,  and,  contrary  to  the  usual  regulations, 
which  exclude  steam-boats.  The  thoughtless  negroes 
allowed  the  chimney  of  our  vessel  to  get  so  choked  up 
with  soot  that  we  were  soon  forced  to  quit  this  convey- 
ance, and  travel  by  land.  The  barges  on  the  canal 
are  constructed  of  different  sizes,  so  that,  after  going 
down  laden  with  cotton,  they  are  put  one  into  another 
when  returning  empty,  and  thus  escape  a  large  part  of 
the  tolls  at  the  locks.  The  slaves  are  fond  of  cock- 
fighting  ;  and  on  the  prow  of  each  barge  there  stood 
usually  a  game-cock,  perched  as  if  he  were  the  ensign 
of  the  vessel. 

We  passed  the  Brygon  Swamp,  about  forty  miles 
north  of  Charleston,  where  the  remains  of  the  masto- 
don were  found  when  the  canal  was  cut.  Wild  ani- 
mals might  still  be  mired  in  the  same  morass,  latitude 
SS*^  20'  N.,  showing  that  these  fossils  in  the  Southern 
States  occur  in  precisely  the  same  geological  position  as 
in  New  York  and  Canada.  We  slept  at  Wantcot,  and 
then  went  by  Eutaw  to  Vance's  Eerry  on  the  Santee 


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140 


EOCENE    SHELLS. 


Chap. 


IX. 


river,  tlien  to  Cave  Hall,  examining"  the  tertiary  wliite 
marl  and  limestone,  and  collecting  the  shells  and  cordis 
contained  in  it.  Lime-sinks,  or  funnel-shaped  cavities, 
are  frequent  in  this  country,  arising  from  natural  tun- 
nels and  cavities  in  the  subjacent  limestone,  through 
some  of  which  subterranean  rivers  How.  An  account 
was  given  me  of  a  new  hollow  which  opened  about  fif- 
teen years  ago,  about  two  miles  south  of  the  Santee 
river,  into  which  a  mule  drawing  a  plough  sank  sud- 
denly. About  a  hundred  yards  from  the  same  spot,  I 
saw  a  large  cavern  sixty  feet  high  at  its  entrance  in  the 
white  limestone,  from  the  mouth  of  which  flowed  a 
small  stream.  The  undermining  effect  of  such  rivers 
explains  the  hnear  arrangement  so  common  in  lime- 
sinks  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  The  walls  of 
such  "sinks"  are  vertical,  and  the  strata  exposed  to 
view  consist  usually  of  clay  and  sand,  which  rest  upon 
the  limestone. 

From  Cave  Hall  we  went  in  a  north-westerly  direc- 
tion to  Stoudenmire  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Santee, 
where  the  siliceous  burr-stone  and  brick-red  loam  ap- 
pear above  the  white  limestone.  In  the  covnse  of  this 
examination,  I  satisfied  myself  that  the  limestone  and 
white  marl,  a  formation  which  must  sometimes  amuimt 
to  120  feet  in  thickness,  in  the  low  region  of  Cooper 
river  and  tlie  Santee  canal,  are  a  continuation  of  the 
same  Eocene  deposit  which  I  had  seen  at  Shell  Bluff, 
at  Jacksonboro',  and  other  places  on  the  Savannah  riv- 
er, and  which  I  afterwards  observed  at  Wilmington, 
in  Ncrth  Carolina.  I  found  many  species  in  all  these 
places,  common  to  those  of  Claiborne,  in  Alabama^ 
where  the  largest  number  (more  than  200)  of  Eocene 
shells  in  a  good  state  of  preservation  have  been  met 


Chap.  ix. 


EOCENE    FOSSILS. 


141 


witli ;  and  are  described  and  figured  in  the  works  of 
Mr.  Conrad  and  Mr.  Lea  of  PhildJeiuliia.  Dr.  Ra- 
venel  pointed  out  to  me  some  remarkable  new  species 
of  ScHltlla  at  the  Grove,  near  the  mouth  of  tlie  Coop- 
er river,  and  these  were  accompanied  by  several  w  ell- 
known  Eocene  shells  hke  those  of  Claiborne.  The 
same  white  Umestone  and  marl  may  be  said  to  be 
continuous  for  forty  miles,  from  the  Grove  to  the  San- 
tee  river. 

At  Eutaw  and  other  points,  corals  of  the  genera 
Id/nonea,  Acystis,  PusfMlopora,  Vincularia,  and  Es- 
cliara  occur,  with  a  species  of  iScalaria,  and  other 
shells.  These  fossils,  and  the  rock  containing  them, 
reminded  me  so  much  of  the  straw-coloured  limestone 
of  the  cretaceous  formation  seen  on  the  banks  of  Tim- 
ber Creek  in  New  Jersey,  that  I  do  not  wonder  that 
some  errors  had  arisen  from  confoimding  the  tertiary 
and  secondary  deposits  of  the  south.  The  species, 
however,  prove  on  closer  inspection  to  be  diliercnt. 
This  lithological  resemblance  of  tiie  rocks  seems  to 
have  led  to  the  admission  into  Dr.  Morton's  list  of 
the  cretaceous  fohsils  of  North  America;  a  Ust  for  the 
most  part  ver}'^  correct,  of  the  following  seven  tertiary 
species  wliicli  really  came  from  the  Eocene  strata  of 
South  Carolina.  The^jc  are,  Balanus  percgrinus^ 
Ptcten  calualns,  P.  j/ufiihrfutosits,  Tcrebratnla  la- 
chryina,  Conns  g'i/ra(ust,  Scntdla  Lyelll^  and  Ecfd- 
ims  infulatus  (sec  Morton's  Synopsis,  pi.  10.).  The 
belief  that  all  these  species  were  common  to  the  chalk 
and  tertiary  strata  led  naturally  to  the  opinion  that  in 
the  Southern  States  a  foriiiation  existed  intermediate 
hi  character  between  the  rocks  of  the  secondary  and 
those  of  the  tertiary  periods. 


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142 


EOCENE    SHELLS. 


Chap,  u 


I  consider  the  burr-stone  and  associated  clays  and 
sands  of  Stoudcnniiie  and  Aikin,  South  Carohna,  aid 
of  Augusta,  Millhavcn,  and  Stony  Bluff,  in  Georgia,  to 
belong  also  to  an  Eocene  deposit,  and  to  be  higher  in 
the  series  than  the  white  limestone  formation. 

Out  of  125  species  of  Eocene  shells  which  I  collected 
in  the  Southern  States,  or  which  were  presented  to  me, 
I  have  only  been  able  to  identify  seven  witli  European 
species  of  the  same  epoch.  These  are  Trochus  ag- 
glutinarisi^  iSolarium  canaliculatum,  BonelUa  tere- 
bellaia,  InfundibulumtrGchiformc,  Lithodomiis  dac- 
t'l/lns,  Cardiia  platticosia.  and  Ostrea  bellovacina. 

But  there  are  a  considerable  number  of  representa- 
tive species,  and  an  equal  number  of  forms  peculiar  to 
these  older  tertiary  strata  of  America. 

The  Ostrea  sellcB/ormis,  which  may  be  considered 
as  representing  the  O.  Jlahellula  of  the  Paris  and 
London  basins,  appears  to  be  one  of  the  most  charac- 
teristic and  widely  disseminated  Eocene  shells  in  Vir- 
ginia, South  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  for  I  found  it  at 
Shell  Bluff  and  on  the  Santee  river,  and  the  James  riv- 
er, i  1  Virginia. 

On  the  banks  of  the  Cooper  river,  we  heard  occa- 
sionally the  melodious  and  liquid  note  of  the  mocking- 
bird in  the  woods.  It  is  of  a  fearless  disposition,  and 
approaches  very  near  to  the  houses.  I  can  well  imagine 
that  in  summer,  when  the  leaves  are  out,  and  the  flow- 
ers in  full  splendour,  this  region  must  be  most  beautiful. 
But  it  is  then  that  the  planters  are  compelled  by  the 
fever  and  ague  to  abandon  their  country  scats.  It  was 
not  so  formerly.  When  the  English  army  was  cam- 
paigning on  the  Cooper  and  Santee  rivers  in  the  revo- 
lutionary war,  they  en^^^imped  with  impunity  in  places 


(tip     * 


Ciur.  IX. 


MALARIA    IN    SOUTH    CAROLINA. 


143 


where  it  would  now  be  death  to  remain  for  a  few  days 
in  the  hot  season.  I  inquired  what  could  have  caused 
so  great  a  change,  and  found  the  phenomenon  as  much 
a  matter  of  controversy  as  the  origin  of  the  malaria  in 
Italy.  The  clearing  away  of  the  wood  from  large 
spaces  is  the  chief  alteration  in  the  physical  condition 
of  this  region  in  the  course  of  the  last  sixty  years, 
whereby  the  damp  and  swampy  grounds  undergo  an 
nually  the  process  of  being  dried  up  by  a  burning  sun. 
Marshes  which  are  overflowed  by  the  tide  twice  in  every 
twenty-four  hours  near  the  neighbouring  coast,  both  in 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  are  perfectly  healthy.  Dr 
Arnold  remarks,  in  his  Roman  History,  that  Rome  was 
more  healthy  before  the  drainage  of  the  Campagna,  and 
(vhen  there  was  more  natural  wood  in  Italy  and  in 
iiorthern  Europe  generally.  In  the  southern  States  of 
the  Union  there  arc  no  fevers  in  winter,  at  a  season 
when  there  is  no  large  extent  of  damp  and  boggy  soil 
cxpcsed  to  a  hot  sun,  and  undergoing  desiccation. 

On  our  way  home  from  Charleston,  by  the  railway 
from  Orangeburg,  I  observed  a  thin  black  line  of  charred 
vegetable  matter  exposed  in  the  perpendicular  section 
of  the  bank.  The  sand  cast  out  in  digging  the  railway 
had  been  thrown  up  on  the  original  soil,  on  which  the 
pine  forest  grew ;  and  farther  excavations  had  laid  open 
the  junction  of  the  rubbish  and  the  soil.  As  geologists, 
we  may  learn  from  this  fact  how  a  thin  seam  of  vege- 
table matter,  an  inch  or  two  thick,  is  often  the  only 
monument  to  be  looked  for  of  an  ancient  surface  of  dry 
land,  on  which  a  luxuriant  forest  may  have  grown  for 
thousands  of  years.  Even  this  seam  of  friable  matter 
may  be  washed  away  when  the  region  is  submerged, 
and,  if  not,  rain-water  percolating  freely  through  the 


1 

i 

i 

;  ji 

1  , 

■'1 

)  ■ 

;    i 

■1 

1   i   i 


>:iu 


i 


mmsi-Y 


I'l 


■ff 


nM  * 


P   I 


r 


(t 


ill  1 


144 


CIIFJEllFULNESS    OF    TIIK    NIM.ROKS.        Chap,  ix 


sand  may,  tii  tlic  course  of  agos,  giadiially  cany  away 
the  carhan. 

As  there  were  no  inns  in  that  part  of  Soutli  Carolina 
throujjl  "'hich  we  nassed  in  this  short  tour,  and  as  we 
were  every  wnore  received  hospitably  by  tiie  plant(  rs,  I 
had  many  opp  -rtunitiesof  seeing  tbeir  mode  of  life,  and 
the  condition  of  the  domestic  and  farm  slaves.  In  some 
rich  houses  maize,  or  Indian  corn,  and  rice  were  entirely 
substituted  for  wheaten  bread.  The  usual  style  of  liv- 
ing is  that  of  English  country  gentlemen.  They  have 
well-appointed  carriages  and  horses,  and  well-trained 
black  servants.  The  conversation  of  the  gentlemen 
turned  chiefly  on  agricultural  sid))ects,  shooting,  and 
horse-racing.  Several  of  the  mansions  were  surrounded 
with  deer-parks. 

Arriving  often  at  a  late  hour  at  our  quarters  in  the 
evening,  we  heard  the  negroes  singing  loudly  and  joy- 
ously in  chorus  after  their  day's  work  was  over.  On 
one  estate,  about  forty  black  children  were  brought  up 
daily  before  the  windows  of  the  planter's  house,  and  fed 
in  sight  of  the  family,  otherwise,  we  were  told,  the  old 
\vomen  who  have  charge  of  them  might,  in  the  absence 
of  the  parents,  appropriate  part  of  their  allow^ance  to 
themselves.  All  the  slaves  have  some  animal  food 
daily.  When  they  are  ill,  they  sometimes  refuse  to 
take  medicine,  except  from  the  hands  of  the  master  or 
mistress;  and  it  is  of  all  tasks  the  most  delicate  ior  the 
owners  to  decide  when  they  are  really  sick,  and  when 
Ciily  shamming  from  indolence. 

After  the  accounts  I  had  read  of  the  sufTerings  of 
slaves,  I  w^as  agreeably  surprised  to  find  them,  in  gener- 
al, so  remarkably  cheerful  and  light-hearted.  It  is  true 
that  I  saw  no  gangs  working  under  overseers  ou  sugar- 


\\\ 


ClIAP.    IX. 


NEGRO    VANITY. 


145 


planlnlioui^,  but  out  of  two  millions  and  a  half  of  slaves 
iii  tlic  I'nitcd  States,  the  largLT  proportion  arc  engaged 
in  su(  li  farming  occupations  and  domestic  services  as  I 
\vi(n(;ssed  in  (jJeorgin  and  >Soutl»  Carolina.     I  was  often 
for  days  together  witii  negroes  who  served  me  as  guides, 
and  found  them  as  talkative  and  chatty  as  children, 
usually  boasting  of  their  ma-ter's  wealth,  and  their  own 
peculiar  merits.     At  an  inn  in  Virginia,  a  female  slave 
asked  us  to  guess  for  how  many  dollars  a  year  she  was 
let  out  by  her  owner.     AVe  named  a  small  sum,  but 
she  told  us  exultingly,  that  we  were  much  under  the 
mark,  for  the  landlord  paid  fifty  dollars,  or  ten  guineas  a 
year  for  her  hire.     A  good-humoured  butler,  at  another 
inn  in  the  same  state,  took  care  to  tell  me  that  his 
owner  got  30/.  a  year  for  him.     The  coloured  steward- 
ess of  a  steam- vessel  was  at  great  pains  to  tell  us  her 
value,  and  how  she  came  by  the  name  of  dueen  Vic- 
toria.    When  we  recollect  that  the  dollars  are  not  their 
own,  we  can  hardly  refrain  from  smiling  at  tlie  childlike 
simplicity  with  which  they  express  their  satisfaction  at 
the  high  price  set  on  them.     Tliat  price,  however,  is  a 
fair  test  of  their  intelligence  and  moral  worth,  of  which 
they  have  just  reason  to  feel  proud,  and  their  pride  is  at 
least  free  from  all  sordid  and  mercenary  considerations. 
AVe  might  even  say  that  they  labour  with  higher  mo- 
tives  than  the  whites — a  disinterested  love  of  doing 
their  duty.     I  am  aware  that  we  may  reflect  and  phi- 
losophise on  this  peculiar  and  amusing  form  of  vanity, 
until  we  perceive  in  it  the  evidence  of  extreme  social 
degradation ;  but  the  first  impression  which  it  made 
u|)on  my  mind  was  very  consolatory,  as  I  found  it 
inipossiblo  to  feel  a  painful  degree  of  commiseration  for 
persons  so  exceedingly  well  satisfied  with  themselves. 

13 


» 


!     :    ^1 


i' '  ., 


v*' 


s 


146 


NEtJRO    WEDDING. 


ClIAF.  i«. 


!,iM 


i  ■' 


South  Carolina  \h  one  of  the  few  states  where  llirre 
is  a  numerical  preponderance  of  slaves.  One  nii^lit,  at 
Charleston,  I  went  to  see  the  guard-house,  wl'.cre  tlu  ro 
is  a  strong  guard  kept  constantly  in  arms,  and  on  the 
alert.  Every  citizen  is  ohiiged  to  serve  in  person,  or 
find  a  substitute  ;  and  the  maintenance  of  sucii  a  force, 
the  strict  laws  against  importing  books  relating  to  eman- 
cipation, and  the  prohibition  to  bring  back  slaves  who 
have  been  taken  by  their  masters  into  free  states,  show 
that  the  fears  of  the  owner,  whether  well-founded  or  not, 
are  real. 

During  our  stay  at  Charleston,  we  were  present  at  a 
negro  wedding,  where  the  bride  and  bridegroom,  and 
nearly  all  the  company,  were  of  unmixed  African  race. 
They  were  very  merry.  The  bride  and  bridcmaids  all 
dressed  in  white.  The  marriage  service  performed  by 
an  Episcopal  clergyman.  Not  long  afterwards,  when 
staying  at  a  farm-house  in  North  Carolina,  I  happened 
to  ask  a  planter  if  one  of  his  negroes  with  whom  we  had 
been  conversing  was  married.  He  told  me,  Yes,  l:c 
had  a  wife  on  that  estate,  as  well  as  another,  her  sifter, 
on  a  different  property  which  belonged  to  him ;  but 
that  there  was  no  legal  validity  in  the  marriagt;  cere- 
mony. I  remarked,  that  he  must  be  mistaken,  as  an 
Episcopal  minister  at  Charleston  would  not  have  lent 
himself  to  the  performance  of  a  sacred  rite,  if  it  weie 
nugatory  in  practice,  and  in  the  eye  of  the  law .  He 
replied,  that  I'e  himself  was  a  lawyer  by  profession,  and 
that  no  legal  validity  ever  had  been,  or  ought  to  be, 
given  to  the  marriage  tie,  so  long  as  the  right  of  yah 
could  separate  parent  and  child,  husband  and  wife. 
Such  separations,  he  said,  could  not  always  be  prevented, 
when  slaves  multiplied  fast,  though  they  were  avoided 


ClIAl'.  IX 


I  NCnr.ASii;    OK    HT.AVKS. 


1:7 


I         M 


by  (he  masters  as  far  as  possible.  Ho  (Irfeiulcd  the 
custom  of  briiigiiij*'  up  ibc  cbilchen  of  llio  sanu^  eslaU; 
ill  common,  as  it  was  far  mon;  limiiaiic  not  to  clu'rish 
domestic  ties amo4J<^ slaves.  On  tliesame  farm  I  talUed 
with  several  slaves  vvlio  had  been  set  to  fell  timbei  by 
task-work,  and  bad  finished  by  the  iniddin  of  the  day. 
Tbey  never  appeared  to  be  overworked;  and  the  la- 
pidily  with  wliicli  they  increase  beyond  the  whit(?s  in 
tlie  United  States  shows  that  they  are  not  in  a  state  of 
discomfort,  oppression,  and  misery.  Doubiless,  in  the 
same  manner  as  in  Ireland  and  parts  of  Great  liriiain, 
the  want  of  education,  mental  culture,  and  respect  lor 
themselves,  favours  improvident  marriages  among  the 
poor  ;  so  the  state  of  mere  animjd  existence  of  the  slave, 
and  his  low  moral  and  intellectual  condition,  coupled 
\\\\h  kind  treatment  and  all  freedom  frouicare,  promote 
their  multiplication.  The  ellisct  of  the  institmion  on 
the  progress  of  the  whites  is  most  injurious,  and,  after 
travelling  in  the  northern  States,  and  admiring  their 
rapid  advance,  it  is  most  depressing  to  the  s|iirits. 
There  appears  to  be  no  place  in  society  for  poor  whites. 
If  they  are  rich,  their  slaves  multij)ly.  and  from  motives 
of  kindly  feehrig  towards  retainers,  and  often  from  false 
.  pride,  they  are  very  unwilling  to  sell  them.  Hence 
they  are  constantly  tempted  to  maintain  a  larger  estab- 
lishment than  is  w^arranted  by  the  amount  of  their  capi- 
tal, and  they  often  become  involved  in  their  circum- 
stances, and  finally  bankrujit.  The  prudence,  temper, 
and  decision  of  character  recpiired  to  manage  a  planta- 
tion successfully  is  very  great.  It  is  notorious  that  the 
hardest  taskmasters  to  the  slaves  are  those  who  come 
from  the  northern  free  States. 
I  often  asked  myself,  when  in  the  midst  of  a  large 


t  if 


y<i 


w:' 


■f  I ; 


I 


148 


CONVERSATION    WITH    PLANTERS.        Ciup.  u 


Ui 


li 


plantnlion,  what  .^tops  T  would  take  if  I  had  inherited 
such  a  prop.Tty  fn»m  Hritisii  ancestors.  Itliought,  fuijt, 
of  inimeli  itely  emancipating  all  the  slaves,  but  I  was 
reminded  tliat  the  law  humanely  provides,  in  that  case, 
that  I  should  still  support  them,  so  that  I  might  ruin 
myself  and  flimily ;  and  it  would  still  be  a  question 
whether  those  whom  I  had  released  from  bondajie 
would  be  happier,  or  would  be  prepared  for  freedom.  I 
then  propcs  h1  to  begin  with  education  as  a  preliminary 
step.  H(M-e  I  was  met  with  the  objection  that,  since 
the  abolition  movement  and  the  fanatical  exertions  of 
missionaries!,  severe  statutes  had  been  enacted,  making 
it  pen[d  to  teach  slaves  to  read  and  write.  I  must  first, 
therefore,  endeavour  to  persuade  my  fellow  slave- 
holders to  repeal  these  laws  against  improving  the 
moral  and  intellectual  condition  of  the  slaves.  I  re- 
marked that,  in  order  to  overcome  the  npathy  and  re- 
luctance of  the  planters,  the  same  kind  of  agitation,  the 
same  "  pres.-ure  from  without,''  miglu  be  indispensable, 
which  had  brought  about  our  V^'cM  Indian  emancipa- 
tion. To  this  niy  American  friends  replied,  that  the 
small  vunnber  (>f  our  slaves,  so  insignificant  in  com- 
parison to  their  two  and  a  half  millions,  had  made  an 
indemnity  to  tlie  owner  possible  ;  also  that  the  free  ne- 
groes, in  small  islands,  could  always  be  held  in  subjec- 
tion bv  tlu^  Hiitish  lleets  :  and.  lastly,  that  Enirland  had 
a  right  to  interfere  and  legislate  for  her  own  colonies, 
whereas  the  northern  State-^  of  the  Union,  and  foreis^n- 
ers,  had  no  constitutional  right  to  intermeddle  with  the 
domestic  concerns  of  the  slave  States.  Such  interven- 
tion, by  exciting  the  fenrs  and  indignation  of  the  plant- 
ers, had  retarded,  and  mu-^t  always  be  expected  to  re- 
tard, the  progress  of  the  cause.     They  also  reminded 


i 

i    ; 


Chap.  ix. 


ABOLITION    MOVEMENT. 


149 


me  liowlon^  and  obstinate  a  struirrrle  tl  j  West  Indian 
proprietors  luul  made  against  the  eniancip:ilioijists  in 
liie  British  Honse  of  Connnons ;  and  liiey  hinted,  tiiat 
if  the  dilFerent  isbiida  had  been  directly  represented  in 
the  Lower  House,  and  there  had  been  Dukes  of  Ja- 
maica. Marquises  of  Antigua,  and  Earls  of  Oarbadocs 
in  the  Upper  Ilou^e,  as  the  slave  states  are  represented 
in  Congress,  the  measure  would  never  have  been  car- 
ried to  this  day. 

The  more  1  reflected  on  tlie  condition  of  the  slaves, 
and  endeavoured  to  iliink  on  a  practicable  plan  for  hast- 
ening the  period  of  their  liberation,  the  more  dillicuk 
the  subject  appeared  to  me,  and  the  more  I  felt  aston- 
ished at  the  confidence  disjjlayed  by  so  many  anti-slavery 
speakers  and  writers  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 
The  course  pursued  by  these  agitators  shows  that,  next 
to  the  positively  wicked,  tlie  class  who  are  usually  called 
"well-meaning  persons"  are  the  most  mischievous  in 
society.  Before  the  year  1830,  a  considtM'able  numljer 
of  the  planters  were  in  the  habit  of  regarding  slavery  as 
a  great  moral  and  political  evil,  and  many  of  them 
openly  proclaimed  it  to  be  so  in  tlie  Virginia  debates  of 
1831-2.  The  emancipation  party  was  gradual 'v  gain- 
ing ground,  and  not  uiu'easonable  hopes  were  enter- 
tained that  the  States  of  Kentucky,  Virginia,  and 
Mar}  land  would  soon  fix  on  some  future  day  for  the 
manumission  of  their  slaves.  This  step  luid  already 
b'TH  taken  in  most  of  the  States  north  of  the  Potomac, 
and  slavery  was  steadily  retreating  southwards.  From 
the  moment  that  the  abolition  movement  began,  and 
lliat  missionaries  were  sent  to  the  southern  States,  a 
re-action  was  perceived — the  planters  took  the  alarm — 
laws  were  passed  against  education-  -the  condition  of 

13» 


;  •! 


.    1; 

il 

i^ 

1; 

i  '• 

! 
■ 

1 

y 

'  1 


l«:i 


150 


CONDITION    OF   THE   SLAVES. 


Cha?.  u 


tlift  slav(;  was  worse  ;  and  not  a  few  of  tlio  planter?,  by 
dint  of  dcfendiniT  (heir  iii.-tilutions  agiiins-t  the  argu- 
mejils  and  ini.r^fepresentations  of  their  assailant:?,  came 
actually  to  delude  themselves  into  a  belief  that  slavery 
was  legitimate,  wise,  and  expedient — a  positive  good 
in  itself  There  were  many,  indeed,  who  thought  dif- 
ferently, but  who  no  longer  dared  to  express  their  opin- 
ioiM  freely  on  the  subject. 

It  is  natural  that  those  planters  who  are  of  benevo- 
lent dispositions,  and  indulgent  to  their  slaves,  and  Avho 
envy  tlie  northern  proprietor,  who,  now  that  the  Indians 
have  passed  away,  has  the  good  fortune  not  to  share 
his  country  with  another  race,  should  be  greatly  irritated 
when  the  cruelty  of  the  slave-holders,  as  a  class,  is  held 
up  to  the  reprobation  of  mankind.  A  deep  sense  of  in- 
justice, and  a  feeling  of  indignation.  disincUnes  them 
to  persevere  in  advocating  the  cause  of  emancipation. 
I  was  so  much  occupied  and  absorbed  in  my  scientific 
pursuits  that  I  never  felt  tempted  to  touch  on  this  ex- 
citing subject,  and  therefore,  perhaps,  the  planters  spoke 
out  their  sentiments  to  me  more  freely.  "Labour," 
they  said,  "  is  as  compulsory  in  Europe  as  here ;  but 
in  Europe  they  who  refuse  to  work  have  the  alterna- 
tive of  starvation  ;  here  the  slave  who  is  idle  has  th.3 
alternative  of  corporal  punishment;  for,  whether  he 
works  or  not,  he  must  always  be  fed  and  clothed.'' 
They  complained  to  me  much  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  escape  of  runaway  slaves  was  favoured  in  the  free 
States.  Their  innocence,  they  said,  is  always  as- 
sumed, and  the  cruelty  and  harshness  of  their  owners, 
taken  for  granted ;  whereas  the  fugitives  often  consist 
of  good-for-nothing  characters,  who  would  have  been 
put  into  gaol  in  Europe,  but  who  here  are  left  at  large, 


llAP. 


gies. 


riAP.  IX.  EFFECTS    OF    St  Dlii.N    t.MANClPATION. 


151 


(I    '    ;   I  «| 


because  their  innsters  are  imwilling  to  lose  their  ser- 
vices by  iiiiprisoMrncnt,  wiiile  they  are  compelled  to 
support  thein.  If  the  t^aine  delinquents,  they  say, 
were  flying  from  the  constable  in  a  free  State,  tlie  pub- 
lic would  sympathise  with  the  police  and  the  magis- 
trate, and  if  they  bore  on  their  backs  the  marks  of  for- 
mer chastisement  in  gaol,  the  general  desire  to  appre- 
hend them  would  be  still  more  eager.  These  apolo- 
gies, and  their  assurance  that  they  found  it  to  their 
interest  to  treat  their  slaves  kindly,  had  no  effect  in 
inducing  me  to  believe  that,  where  such  great  power 
is  intrusted  to  the  owner,  that  power  will  not  be  fre- 
quently abused  ;  but  it  has  made  me  desire  to  see  a 
fair  statement  of  the  comparative  statistics  of  crimes 
and  punishments  in  slave  states  and  free  countries.  If 
we  could  fairly  estimate  the  misery  of  all  offenders  in 
the  prisons,  penitentiaries,  and  penal  settlements  of 
some  large  European  province,  and  then  deduct  the 
same  from  the  sufferings  of  the  slaves  in  a  large  south- 
ern state  of  the  Union,  the  excess  alone  ought,  in  fair- 
ness, to  be  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  slave-owners. 
AVhile  pointing  out  the  evil  unreservedly,  we  should  do 
tile  owner  the  justice  to  remember  that  the  system  of 
things  which  we  deprecate  has  been  inherited  by  him 
from  his  British  ancestors,  and  that  it  is  rarely  possible 
or  safe  to  bring  about  a  great  social  reform  in  a  few 
years. 

Had  the  measure  of  emancipating  all  the  slaves 
been  carried  iln-ough  as  rapidly  as  some  abolitionists 
have  desired,  the  fate  of  the  negroes  might  have  been 
ahuost  as  deplorable  as  that  of  the  aboriginal  Indians. 
We  must  never  forget  that  the  slaves  have  at  present  a 
monopoly  of  the   labour-niarket ;    the   planters  being 


^f:l 


Ml 


•Ml 


m 


I,' 


>'  'I 


W        i  'Si 


i 


152 


DYING    OUT    OF    SLAVKIIY. 


CiiAi',  ::c 


IJil 


i  ] 


bound  to  feed  and  clotlie  tlicr     and  l)oing-  nnabio  to 
turn  them  ofl'  and  take  white  labourers  in  their  place. 
Tlie  coloured  population,  therefore,  are  protected  ag-aiii;jt 
the   free   competition    of    the    white   emig^ranh«,    with 
whom,  if  they  were  once  Uberated,  they  could  no  longer 
BUCcestifuUy  contend.     I  am  by  no  means  disposed  to 
assume  tliat  the  natural  capacities  of  the  negroes,  w  ho 
always  appeared  to  nie  to  be  an  amiable,  gentle,  and 
inotrensive  race,  may  not  be  e(iual  in  a  moral  and  in- 
tellectual point  of  view  to  those  of  the  Europeans,  provi- 
ded the  coloured  population  were  placed  in  circumstan- 
ces equally  favourable  for  their  development.     But  it 
would  be  visionary  to  expect  that,  under  any  imagi- 
nable system,  this  race  could  at  once  acquire  as  much 
energy,  and  become  as  rapidly  progressive,  as  the  Anglo- 
Saxons.     To  inspire   them   with  such  an  aptitude  for 
rapid  advancement  must  be  the  work  of  time — the  result 
of  improvement  carried  on  through  several  successive 
generations.     Time  is  percisely  the  condition  for  which 
the  advocates  of  the  immediate  liberation  of  the  blacks 
would  never  suf!iciently  allows     The  great  experiment 
now  making  in  the  West  Indies  afibrds  no  parallel  case, 
because  the  climate  there  is  far  more  sultry,  relaxing, 
and  trying  to  Europeans,  tlian  in  the  Southern  Slates 
of  the  Union  ;  and   it  is  well  known   that  the  Wci  1 
Indian  proprietors  have  no  choice,  the  whites  being  so 
few  in  ninnber,  that  the  services  of  the  coloured  race 
aie  indispensable. 

Professor  Tucker,  of  Virginia,  has  endeavoured  to 
show,  that  the  density  of  population  in  tlic  slave  States 
will  amount,  in  about  sixty  years,  to  fifty  persons  in  a 
square  mile.  Long  before  that  period  arrives,  the  most 
productive  lands  will  have  been  all  cultivated,  and  some 


«',i; 


lies 

HO 

lace 
to 

lost 
irie 


Chap.  ix. 


ABOLITION    -jV    .JLAViJtV. 


153 


of  the  inferior  soils  rcsortctl  to:  tlic  price  of  laboiir  will 
fall  gradually  as  compared  to  the  means  of  subsistence, 
and  it  will,  at  length,  be  for  the  interest  of  the  masters 
to  liberate  their  slaves,  and  to  emplo}'  the  more  eco- 
nomical and  productive  labour  of  freemen.     Tiie  same 
causes    will  tlien  come  into  operation  which  formerly 
cmancipaled   the  villeins  of  western  Europe,  and  will 
one  day  set  free  the  serfs  of  Russia.     It  is  to  be  hoped, 
liowever,  that  the  planters  will  not  wait  for  more  than 
half  a  century  for  such  an  euthanasia  of  the  institution 
of  slavery  ;  for  the  increase  of  the  coloured  population 
in  sixty  years  would  be  a  formidable  evil,  since  in  this 
instance  they  are  not,  like  villeins  and   serfs,  of  the 
same  race  as  tlieir  masters.     They  cantmt  be  fused  at 
once  into  the  general  mass,  and   become  amalgamated 
with  the   whites,   for  their  colour  still  remains  as  the 
badge  of  their  former  bondage,  so  that  they  continue, 
after  their  fetters  are  removed,  to  form  a  separate  and 
inferior  caste.     [low  long   this  state  of  things  would 
last  must  depend  on  their  natural  capabilities,   moral, 
intellectual,  and  physical ;  but  if  in  these  they  be  ecpial 
to  the  whites,  the  '  would  eventually  become  the  dom- 
inant race,  since  the  climate  of  the  south,  more  con- 
genial to  their  constitutions,  would  give  them  a  decided 
advantage. 

A  philanthropist  may  well  be  perplexed  when  he 
desires  to  devise  some  plan  of  interference  which  may 
really  promote  the  true  interests  of  the  negro.  But  the 
way  in  which  the  planters  would  best  consult  their  own 
interests  appears  to  me  very  clear.  They  should  ex- 
hibit more  patience  and  courage  towards  the  abolition- 
ists, whose  influence  and  numbers  they  greatly  over- 
rate, and  lose  no  lime  in  educating  the  slaves,  and 


r 


( 

I 
1    / 

;    II 


'i|;l 


J' 


!    I 


'  'V, 


^■' 


154 


ABOLITION    OF    SLAVERY. 


Chap. 


u. 


f. 


1 


I':'  ji 


ill  i 


■I  r 


|i 


ijr 


& 


m 


H 

■  41 


lli:k, 


i 


I    '' 


cncoiir.'igiiig^  private  manumission  to  prepare  the  way 
for  general  einancipalian.  All  seem  agreed  that  the 
states  most  ripe  for  this  great  reform  are  Maryland, 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and 
Missouri.  Experience  has  proved  in  the  northern 
States  that  emancipalion  immediately  checks  ihe  in- 
crease of  the  coloured  population,  and  causes  the  rela- 
tive number  of  the  whites  to  augment  very  rapidly. 
Every  year,  in  proportion  as  the  north-western  States 
fill  up,  and  as  the  boundary  of  the  new  settlers  in  the 
west  is  removed  farther  and  farther,  beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  Missouri,  the  cheaper  and  more  accessible 
lands  south  of  the  Potomac  will  offer  a  more  tempting 
field  f)r  colonisation  to  the  swarms  of  New  Englandcrs, 
who  arc  averse  to  migrating  into  slave  states.  Before 
this  influx-  of  white  labourers,  the  coloured  race  will 
give  way.  and  it  will  require  the  watchful  care  of  the 
philanthropist,  whether  in  the  north  or  south,  to  pre- 
vent them  from  being  thrown  out  of  employment,  and 
reduced  to  det:titution. 

If  due  exertions  be  made  to  cultivate  the  minds,  and 
protect  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  negroes,  and  it 
nevertheless  be  found  that  thev  cannot  contend,  when 
free,  with  white  competitors,  but  are  superseded  by 
them,  siill  the  cause  of  humanity  will  have  gained. 
The  coloured  people,  though  their  numbers  remain 
stationary,  or  even  diminish,  may  in  the  mean  time  be 
happier  than  now,  and  attain  to  a  higher  moral  rank. 
Tliey  woiild^  moreover,  escape  the  cruelty  and  injus- 
tice wliich  are  the  invariable  consequences  of  the  ex- 
ercise of  irresponsible  power,  especially  where  authority 
must  be  sometimes  delegated  by  the  planter  to  agents 
of  inferior  education  and  coarser  feelings.    And  last. 


CniF  a. 


ABOLITION    OP    SLAVERY. 


155 


not  least,  emancipation  would  effectually  put  a  stop  to 
the  breeding-,  selling,  and  exporting  of  slaves  to  the 
sugar-growing  States  of  the  South,  where,  unless  the 
accounts  we  usually  read  of  slavery  be  exaggerated 
and  distorted,  the  life  of  the  negro  is  shortened  by  se- 
vere toil  and  suffering. 

Had  the  white  man  never  interposed  to  transplant 
the  negro  into  the  New  World,  the  most  generous 
asserters  of  the  liberties  of  the  coloured  race  would  have 
conceded  that  Africa  afforded  space  enough  for  their 
development.  Neither  in  their  new  country,  nor  in 
that  of  their  origin,  whether  in  a  condition  of  slavery 
or  freedom,  have  they  as  yet  exhibited  such  superior 
qualities  and  virtues  as  to  make  us  anxious  that  ad- 
ditional millions  of  them  should  multiply  in  the  south- 
ern States  of  the  Union ;  still  less,  that  they  should 
overflow  into  Texas  and  Mexicc. 


''I!!,-' 


I 

!      -      ! 

1  ;  I 


r'  „ 


13 


>.1 

■     Xi 

Mi 


mmti  ^^ 


166 


WILMINGTON. 


Chat 


CHAPTER  X. 

Wilmington,  N.  C- -Mount  Vernon. — Return  to  Philadelphia.-^ 
Reception  of  Mr.  D^ckeus. — Museum  and  Fossil  human  Bones.—. 
Penitent iary. — Churches. — Religious  Excitement. — Coloured  Peo- 
ple of  Fortune. — Obstacles  to  their  obtaining  Political  and  Social 
Equality.  —  No  natural  Antipathy  between  the  Races.  —  Negro 
Reservations, 


I  '  i 


w. 


R)     * 


Jan.  22. — I  now  turned  my  course  northwards,  and, 
after  a  short  voyage  in  a  steamer  from  Charleston, 
landed  at  WUmington,  in  North  Carolina.  Here  I  col- 
lected fossils  from  tertiary  formations  of  two  ages,  the 
Miocene  marls,  and  an  underlying  Eocene  limestone, 
harder  than  that  of  Shell  BhilFand  the  Santee  canal 
before  mentioned  ;  but  containing  many  of  the  same 
shells,  corals,  and  teeth  of  tishes.  I  then  went  Iw  rail- 
way to  South  Washington,  visiting  several  farms  on 
the  banks  of  the  north-east  branch  of  Cape  Fear  river. 
Here  I  found  cretaceous  green  marls,  similar  to  ihose 
which  I  had  seen  350  miles  to  the  N.  E.  in  New  Jersey, 
with  belemnites  and  other  characterir^tic  organic  re- 
mains, some  of  species  not  previously  known. 

On  several  of  the  small  plantations  here  1  found  the 
proprietors  by  no  means  in  a  thriving  state,  evidently 
losing  ground  from  year  to  year,  and  some  of  thejn 
talking  of  abandoning  the  exhausted  soil,  and  migra- 
ting with  their  slaves  to  the  south-western  States.  If, 
while  large  numbers  of  the  negroes  were  thus  carried 
to  the  South,  slavery  had  been  aboHshed  in  North  Car- 
olina, the  black  population  might  ere  this  have  been 


III 


Cjup.  X. 


MOUNT    VERNON. 


157 


retliiced  considerably  in  numbers,  vithont  suffering 
those  privations  to  wiiicli  a  free  competition  with  winte 
labourers  nuist  expose  them,  wherever  great  tacihties 
for  emigration  are  not  allbrded. 

A  railway  train  sliooting  rapidly  in  the  dark  through 
the  pine  forests  of  Nortii  Carolina  has  a  most  singular 
[ip[)earaiu:e,  resembling  a  large  rocket  'hcd  horizontally, 
with  a  brilliant  stream  of  revolving  sparks  extending 
behind  the  engine  for  several  hundred  yards,  each  spark 
bL'ing  a  minute  particle  of  wood,  which,  after  issuing 
from  the  cuinmey  of  the  furnace,  remains  ignited  for 
several  seconds  in  the  air.  Now  and  then  these  fiery 
particles,  which  are  invisible  by  day,  instead  of  lagging 
in  the  rear,  find  entrance  by  favour  of  the  wind  through 
the  open  windows  of  the  car,  and,  while  some  burn  holes 
in  the  travellers  cloak,  othcis  make  their  way  into  his 
eyes,  causing  them  to  smart  most  painfullv. 

At  Petersburg,  Mr.  Rufiin,  the  agriculturist,  and  Mr. 
Tuomey,  accompanied  me  in  an  excursion  to  collect 
tertiary  fossils  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  I  examined 
v.ith  nuich  instruction  the  organic  remains  in  their 
cabinets.  At  Washington  I  saw  M.  Nicollet,  and  had 
n  long  conversation  with  this  eminent  astronomer  and 
naturalist,  who  died  the  year  after.  He  had  just  re- 
turned from  a  geographical  and  geological  survey  of 
the  Far  West,  and  higher  parts  of  the  valley  of  the 
iMississippi  and  Missouri.  He  showed  me  the  ammo- 
nites, bacuhles,  and  other  chalk  fossils  brought  by  him 
from  those  distant  regions,  which  estabhsh  the  wide 
range  of  that  peculiar  assemblage  of  organic  remains 
characteristic  of  the  cretaceous  era. 

From  the  deck  of  our  steam-boat  on  the  Potomac  we 
saw  Mount  Vernon,  formerly  the  plantation  of  General 


.,), 
ii 


1  ip'n 

1 

■  f  1 

''\'i 

I 

M 

■ 

1  ^ 

!   t 


Y'. 


i 


158 


PHILADELPHIA. 


ClUP. 


U.f 


Washington.  In^teiad  of  exhibiting,  'ike  the  fauns  in 
ilie  northern  States,  a  lively  picture  of  progress  and 
improvement,  this  property  was  described  to  me  by  all 
as  worn  out,  and  of  less  value  now  than  in  the  days  of 
its  illustrious  owner.  The  bears  and  wolves,  they  say, 
are  actually  re-entering  their  ancient  haunts,  which 
would  scarcely  have  happened  if  slavery  had  been 
abolished  in  \irginia. 

The  air  was  balmy  on  the  Potomac  the  last  day  of 
January,  and  the  winter  had  been  so  mild  in  the  south- 
ern States,  that  we  were  surprised,  on  recrossing  the 
Susquehanna  at  Havre  de  Giace  in  Maryland,  to  see 
large  masses  of  floating  ice  brought  down  from  the 
Appalachian  hills,  and  to  feel  the  air  sensibly  cooled 
while  we  were  ferried  over  the  broad  river.  It  struck 
me  as  a  curious  coincidence,  and  one  not  entirely  acci- 
dental, that,  precisely  in  this  part  of  our  Journey,  I  once 
more  saw  the  low  grounds  covered  with  huge  boulders, 
reminding  me  how  vast  a  territory  in  the  South  I  had 
passed  over  without  encountering  a  single  erratic  block. 
These  far  transported  fragments  of  rock  are  decidedly 
a  northern  phenomenon,  or  belong  to  the  colder  lati- 
tudes of  the   globe,   being   rare   and  exceptional  in 


warmer  regions. 


P/tilade/j)hia,  Feb.  1. — The  newspipers  are  filled 
with  accounts  of  the  enthusiastic  reception  which  Mr. 
Charles  Dickens  is  meeting  with  every  where.  Such 
homage  has  never  been  paid  to  any  foreigner  since 
Lafayette  visited  the  States.  The  honours  may  ap- 
oear  extravagant,  but  it  is  in  the  nature  of  popular 
enthusiasm  to  run  into  excess.  I  find  that  several  of 
my  American  friends  are  less  disposed  than  I  am  to 
sympathise  with  the  movement,  regarding  it  as  more 


-o" 


Chap.  x. 


RECEPTION    OF    MR.    DICKENS. 


159 


»     I'lp 

^" 

1 

*• 

^;i' 

'"^\ 

akin  to  lion-luinlintr  than  liero-worsliip.  They  ex- 
press a  ilouht  whether  Walter  8cott,  IkuI  he  vissircd  the 
v.  S.,  would  l»ave  been  so  much  ulolised.  Perhaps 
not ;  for  Scott's  poems  and  romances  were  less  exten- 
sively circulated  amongst  theinillions  than  the  tales  of 
Dickens.  There  nmy  be  no  precedent  in  Great  Britain 
for  a  whole  people  thus  imreservedly  indulging  their 
feelings  of  admiration  for  a  favourite  author  ;  but  if  so, 
the  Americans  deserve  the  more  credit  for  obeying  their 
warm  impulses.  Of  course,  many  who  af  rend  the  for- 
eigner's crowded  levee  are  merely  gratifying  a  vulgar 
curiosity  by  staring  at  an  object  of  notoriety  ;  but  none 
but  a  very  intelligent  population  could  be  thus  carried 
away  to  flatter  and  applaud  a  man  who  has  neither 
rank,  wealtli,  nor  power,  who  is  not  a  military  hero  or 
a  celebrated  political  character,  but  simply  a  writer  of 
genius,  whose  pictures  of  men  and  manners,  and  whose 
works  of  fiction,  have  been  here,  as  in  his  own  country, 
an  inexhaustible  source  of  interest  and  amusement. 

When  at  Philadelj)liia  I  was  present  at  several  meet- 
ings of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  and  of  the 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences.  In  the  museum  of  the 
former  body  1  was  shown  a  limestone  from  Santas,  in 
Brazil,  procured  by  Captain  Elliott,  of  the  U.  S.  navy, 
which  contains  a  human  skull,  teeth,  and  other  bones, 
together  with  fras^rnents  of  shells,  some  of  them  retain- 
ing  a  [X)rtion  of  their  colour.  The  rock  is  less  solid 
than  that  of  Guadaloupe,  which  it  resembles.  We  are 
informed,  that  the  remains  of  several  hundred  other 
human  skeletons,  imbedded  in  a  like  calcareous  tufa, 
were  dug  out  at  the  same  place,  about  the  year  1827.* 
The  soil  covering  the  solid  stone  supported  a  growth  of 

*  American  Philosophical  Transactions,  1828,  p.  285. 


:i:l 


t  i. 


i'^ 


.  •!    v'l 


m 


i  1  ^ 


If 


H^ 


9i     f  *i 


P 


tiir' 


if*  ^ 


160 


SKELETON   OF    FOSSIL    MASTODON.        Ciup.  x. 


lar^re  trees,  which  covered  tlic  face  of  a  hill  on  the  side 
of  the  river  SanUis.  The  height  ahove  the  sea  is  not 
meiuioiied,  and  it  i.^  to  be  regretted  that  the  notes  ob- 
tained by  Dr.  Meigs  from  Captain  Elliott  were  not 
fuller.  I  observed  scrpulie  in  the  rock,  a  shell  which 
tb(!  natives  woidd  not  have  carried  inland  for  food.  On 
the  whole,  therefore,  1  shoidd  infer,  though  we  need 
further  evidence,  that  this  stone  has  emerged  from  the 
sea,  and  that  there  had  been  previously  a  submergence 
of  dry  land,  perhaps  the  site  of  an  Indian  burial-ground. 

Dr.  Harlan,  the  zealous  and  accomplished  osteolo- 
gist, who,  to  njy  great  regret,  died  the  year  after  (1813), 
at  Mew  Orleans,  took  me  to  see  the  entire  skeleton  of 
the  large  fossil  mastodon,  or  so-called  Missouriun), 
brought  by  Mr.  Koch  from  the  state  of  Missouri,  lie 
pointed  out  several  errors  in  the  manner  in  which  the 
tusks  and  bones  were  put  together.  This  s))lendid 
fo.-^sil  has  since  been  purchased  i)y  the  British  Museum, 
taken  to  pieces  in  London,  and  correctly  set  up  again 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Owen.  It  is  the  largest  in- 
dividual of  the  species  [Mustadon.  gi^antcus)  yet  dis- 
covered ;  for  Dr.  Harlan  and  I  compared  the  femur 
with  that  of  the  largest  mastodon  previously  known, 
from  the  state  of  New  York,  and  preserved  in  Peale's 
Museum  in  this  city.  The  dimensions  of  the  Phila- 
delphia skeleton  are  less  gigantic. 

I  spent  six  weeks  very  agreeably  in  this  city,  rmich 
of  my  time  being  occupied  in  delivering  a  short  course 
of  lectures  on  geology,  and  in  comparing,  with  the 
friendly  aid  of  several  naturalists,  especially  Mr.  Conrad, 
the  fossils  collected  by  me  in  the  South  with  those  pre- 
viously known,  most  of  which  are  preserved  in  the  pub- 
lic and  private  cabinets  here.     Mr.  Lea's  collection  of 


Ciur.  X.  PIlII.ADr.I.lMIlA    PKMTKNTrARV. 


161 


shelL-?,  which  wc  visited  inon'  th:ir.  onco,  rich  in  ihe 
lliiviatilc  sjHu'ics  of  North  Amcric.'i,  \v;i!<  m  )si  iiitercsliiii; 
li)  n»e.  'Micic  !<eoiiis  no  mil  ;o  liu>  iVi'shwator  nnisscLs 
(if  the  •rcnus  Unio^  as  well  as)  otiicr  Ihivialik'  loiins, 
^uch  as  Mildiiki,  which  have  heen  created  lo  people 
the  waters  of  a  continent  unrivalled  in  the  lunnher  of 
ils  rivets,  all  so  copion.<ly  lilie'd  with  water  dnrini,^  every 
season  of  the  year.  ISuch  an  obvious  relation  of  the 
zo()h)gic:al  to  the  geograi)hical  peculiarities  of  a  great 
legit)!!  is  striking,  and  !e!iiinds  the  geologist  of  the  dif- 
ll'ient  states  of  the  animal  creation,  w  hich  have  accom- 
panied the  successive  changes  of  the  earth's  surface  in 
for!!ier  ages.  The  !-a!ne  species  of  Unin^  and  of  other 
fre.-h-water  shells,  preserved  in  a  fossil  state  in  alh!vial 
strata,  forming  teriaces  oik;  ahove  the  other  to  a  con- 
iri.lerable  height  above  the  ]klississij)pi  a!id  ils  tribu- 
taries, show  that  the  fauna  here  alhuled  to,  so  moderti 
in  the  earth's  history,  is  nevertheless  of  high  anli(juiiy, 
and  has  outlasted  soiiie  iiiiportant  niodilicatiuns  in  the 
shape  of  the  valleys  and  levels  of  the  North  American 
streams. 

AVe  were  taken  to  ;-ee  the  Penitcntiaiy  at  Phila- 
delphia, wheie  all  the  prisoners  are  confined  in  sep- 
arate cells.  The}'  !-ec  the  keepers,  chaplain,  and  occa- 
sional visitei's,  by  which  the  rigour  of  their  solitud;;  is 
mitigated.  They  are  taught  to  read,  and  have  numer- 
ous occupations.  If  we  recollect  that  this  establi-hnient 
is  not  an  asylum  for  the  poor,  aged,  and  destitJite,  like 
our  workhouses,  but  a  place  for  the  punishmeni  and 
reform  of  criminals,  wc  may  regard  it  as  a  humane 
institution,  and  it  appeared  to  me  admirably  managed. 

A  few  ycais  ago,  an  American  professor  being  asked 
at  the  end  of  a  short  stay  in  London  whether  he  had 

14* 


it  'I 


'    >! 


,!:|.| 


I  II 


^lA 


.M 

!    >       :l 


'/.        "> 


162 


CHURCHES. 


ClIAP.  I. 


been  pleased  willi  liis  reception,  ?iu(\  lie  lind  been  often 
invited  out  (o  dinner,  Ixit.  no  one  dnrins"  bis  wliole  stay 
bad  oHered  bini  a  seat  in  tbeir  pew  in  cburcb.  At 
Pbiladelpbia,  besides  otber  kinds  ofbospitalitN',  we  bad 
certaiidy  no  reason  to  complain  of  any  want  of  atten- 
tion in  tbis  respect,  for  we  bad  pressing  invitations  to 
private  pews  in  no  less  (ban  six  dillerent  Episcopal 
cburclies  soon  after  our  arrival,  of  wbicb  we  availed 
ourselves  on  as  many  successive  Sundays,  and  were 
struck  witb  tbc  bandsome  style  of  tbe  buildings,  and 
tbe  conifv)rtable  lilting  up  of  tbe  pews.  In  regard  to 
tbe  preaching  in  tbese  and  in  most  of  tbe  Episcopalian, 
Presbyt(;rian,  Baptist,  and  Unitarian  cburclies  wbicb  I 
entered  in  tbe  United  States,  I  tbougbt  it  good,  and 
tbere  seemed  to  me  to  be  two  great  advantages  at  least 
in  tbe  voluntary  principle:  first,  tbat  tbe  ministers  are 
in  no  danger  of  going  to  sleep;  and,  secondly,  tbat  tbey 
con<'ern  tbemselves  mucb  less  witb  politics  tban  is  tlie 
case  witb  us.  To  be  witbout  a  bod}'^  of  dissenters,  dis- 
satisfied wiib  their  exclusion  from  ecclesiastical  endow- 
ments is  a  national  blessing,  wbicb  not  only  every 
statesman,  but  t  "ery  cburcbman,  will  admit.  I  am  by 
no  means  prepared  to  say  whether  there  may  not  be  a 
balance  of  evil  in  tbe  voluntary  system  sufficient  to 
outweigb  tlie  gain  alluded  to.  Wliile  here.  I  beard 
complaints  of  tbe  religious  excitement  into  wbicb  the 
city  bad  been  just  thrown  by  tbe  arrival  of  a  popular 
New  England  preacner,  who  attracted  such  crowds  tbat 
at  lengtb  all  the  sittings  of  bis  cburcb  were  monopo- 
lized by  the  ^air  sex.  American  gallantry  forbids  that 
a  woman  should  reniain  standing  while  gentlemen  are 
comfortably  seated  in  tbeir  j)ews,  so  tbat  at  last  tbe  men 
were  totally  exi^luded.     Notice  was  immediately  given 


!^ 


Chap.  x. 


EPISCOPAL    CHURCHES. 


lOH 


e 
n 
n 


iliat  certain  services  wero  to  be  entirely  reserved  for  the 
men,  an  ainioimcenicnt  well  calculated  to  provoke  cu- 
riosity, and  to  tonipt  many  a  stray  sheep  from  other 
folds.  It  was  then  thought  expedient  for  the  ministers 
of  rival  sects  to  redouble  their  zeal,  that  they  might  not 
be  left  behind  in  the  race,  and  even  the  sober  Episco- 
palians, thoni^h  highly  dir^approving  of  the  movement, 
increased  the  number  of  their  services;  so  that  I  was 
assured  it  would  be  possible  for  tiie  same  individual 
between  the  hours  of  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  and 
nine  in  the  evening,  to  go  seven  times  to  church  in  one 
day.  The  consequences  are  too  like  those  occasionally 
experienced  in  the  "old  country,"  where  enthusiasm  is 
not  kindled  by  so  much  free  coujpetition,  to  be  worth 
dwelling  upon.  Every  day  added  new  recruits  to  a 
host  of  ascetic  devotees,  and  places  of  public  amusement 
were  nearly  deserted  ;  at  last  even  the  innocent  indul- 
gence of  social  intercourse  was  not  deemed  blameless : 
and  the  men  who  had  generally  escaped  the  contagiori 
in  the  midst  of  their  professional  avocations,  found  a 
gloom  cast  over  society  or  over  their  domestic  circle. 
The  young  ladies,  in  particular,  having  abundance  of 
leisure,  were  filled  with  a  lively  sense  of  their  own  ex- 
ceeding wickedness,  and  the  sins  of  their  parents  and 
guardians. 

Many  of  the  most  respectable  Quaker  families  have 
recently  joined  the  Episcopal  church,  which  is  very 
nourishing  here,  not  only  in  this  city,  but  in  the  United 
States  generally,  having  ({uadrupled  its  numbers  in  a 
period  during  which  the  population  of  the  Union  has 
only  doubled.  It  is  true  that  immediately  after  the 
revolutionary  war,  when  tins  form  of  worship  was  idcii- 
tified  with  royalist  opinions,  and  when  not  a  few  of  its 


I; 
I- 


:$.. : 

''^l'- 

!;;■ 


•i.) 


;   I 


■k- 


a, 


¥■  *! 


164 


RICH    MAN    OF    COLOUR. 


Chap,  x 


profrssoi-i  lefl,  tlic  country  for  Caruula,  Nova  Scotia,  or 
ilie  luotlier  couii«ry,  the  Episcopal  e:?tal»Ii^lim(M)t  wag 
depressed  belmv  its  natural  level.  Itrf  revival  anil  rapid 
progress  are  nevertheless  remarkable  in  this  republican 
country,  anJ  are  perhaps  partly  owing  to  the  possession 
of  large  endowments,  especially  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  rendering  it  less  dependent  on  voluntary  contri- 
butions, and  partly  to  the  better  station  of  the  foreign 
imimgiants  from  Great  Britain  belonging  to  the  Angli- 
can chinch. 

I  am  assured,  that  if  the  salaries  paid  to  the  whole 
clergy  of  all  sects  in  the  Union  are  compared  to  those 
of  the  ministers  of  any  other  church  in  the  world  they 
will  be  found  to  be  in  excess  in  proportion  to  the  pop- 
iilal:o;i.  Whether  this  be  true  or  not,  there  is  certainly 
no  lack  of  divinity  st  h;vols,  nor  of  ecclesiastical  build- 
ings, nor  of  crowded  congregations,  the  men  being  as 
regular  in  their  attendance  as  the  women ;  and  the 
rapidity  with  which  new  churches  spring  up  in  the 
wilderness  is  probably  without  example  elsewhere. 

A  rare  event,  the  death  of  a  wealthy  man  of  colour, 
took  place  during  my  stay  here,  and  his  funeral  was 
attended  not  only  by  a  crowd  of  persons  of  his  own 
race,  but  also  bv  many  highly  respectable  white  mer- 
chants, by  Y  !m.  he  was  hold  in  higli  esteem.  He 
had  made  his  lortune  as  a  sail-maker,  and  is  said  to 
have  been  worth,  at  one  time,  sixty  thousand  pounds, 
but  to  have  lost  a  great  part  of  his  riches  by  lending 
money  with  more  generosity  than  prudence.  I  was 
rejoicing  that  his  colour  had  proved  no  impediment  to 
his  rising  in  the  world,  and  that  he  liad  l)een  allowed 
BO  much  fair  play  as  to  succeed  in  over-topping  the 
majority  of  liiii  white  competitors,  when  1  learnt,  on 


t( 


-} 

\(f 

is 

LS 
10 


In 


Chaf.  X. 


FREE    MEN    OF    COLOUR. 


1G5 


further  inquiry,  that,  after  giving  an  excellent  educa- 
tion to  his  children,  he  had  been  made  unhapp3\  by 
finding  they  must  continue,  in  spite  of  all  their  ad- 
vantages, to  belong  to  an  inferior  caste.  It  appeared 
that,  not  long  before  his  death,  he  had  been  especially 
mortified,  because  two  of  his  sons  had  been  refused  a 
hearing  at  a  public  meeting,  where  they  wished  to 
speak  on  some  subject  connected  with  trade  which 
concerned  them. 

In  many  states,  the  free  hlacks  have  votes,  and  exert 
their  privileges  at  elections,  yet  there  is  not  an  in- 
stance of  a  single  man  of  colour,  although  eligible  by 
law,  having  been  ciiosen  a  member  of  any  state  legis- 
lature. The  schools  for  the  coloured  population  at 
Boston  are  well  managed,  and  the  black  children  are 
said  to  show  as  much  quickness  in  learning  ns  the 
whites.  To  what  extent  their  faculties  i;  jght  be  de- 
veloped as  adults  we  have  as  yet  no  means  of  judg- 
ing; for  if  their  Ih'st  eflbrls  are  coldly  received,  or 
treated  with  worse  than  indilT'ercnce,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  young  Philadelpliians  before  alluded  to,  it  is  im- 
possible that  the  higher  kinds  of  excellence  can  be 
reached  in  literature,  the  learned  professions,  or  in  a 
political  career.  If  any  individual  he  gifted  with  finer 
genius  than  the  rest,  his  mind  will  be  the  more  scr.si- 
livo  to  discouragement,  especially  when  it  proceeds 
from  a  race  whose  real  superiority  over  his  coloured 
fellow-citizens,  in  their  present  condition,  he  of  all 
others  would  be  the  first  to  appreciate.  It  is  after 
many  trials  attended  with  success,  and  followed  by 
willing  praise  and  applause,  ihat  self-confidence  aiul 
intellectual  power  are  slowly  act[uired  ;  and  no  well 
educated  black  has  ever  yet  had  an  opportunity  of 


;  1     ^ 

:    1 

■      Vi  . 

1.,- 

■^t' 

'% 


;;.! 


1:|1 


il 


'1 


H  .i 


I'k ' 


:  ♦  'i   ) 


"f 


*'    I 


» 

I  'I' 


t< 


166 


DEPRESSION    OP    NEGRO    RACE. 


Chat. 


ripening  or  displaying  superior  talents  in  this  or  any 
Other  civilised  country.  Canada  and  Ireland  teach  us 
how  much  time  and  iiow  many  generations  are  re- 
quired for  the  blending  together,  on  terms  of  perfect 
equality,  both  social  and  j)olitical,  of  'wo  nations,  the 
conquerors  and  the  conquered,  even  where  both  are 
of  the  same  race,  find  decidedly  ecjual  in  their  natural 
capacities,  though  dilfering  in  religion,  manners,  and 
language.  But  when,  in  the  same  community,  we 
have  two  races  so  distinct  in  their  physical  peculiari- 
ties as  to  cause  many  naturalists,  who  have  no  desire 
to  disparage  the  negro,  to  doubt  whether  both  are  of 
the  same  species,  and  started  originally  from  the  same 
stock  ;  when  one  of  these,  found  in  Afiica  in  a  savage 
and  unprogressive  state,  has  been  degraded,  by  those 
who  first  colonii'.ed  North  America,  to  the  lowest  place 
in  the  social  scale — to  expect,  under  such  a  combina- 
tion of  depressing  circumstances,  that,  in  half  a  cen- 
tury, and  in  a  country  where  more  than  six-sevenths 
of  the  race  are  still  held  in  bondage,  tlie  newly-eman- 
cipated citizens  should,  under  any  form  of  govermnent, 
attain  at  once  a  position  of  real  equality,  is  a  drearn 
of  the  visionary  philanthropist,  wliose  impracticable 
schemes  are  more  hkely  to  injure  than  to  forward  a 
great  cause. 

In  the  West  Indies,  where  circumstances  are  flir 
more  favourable  to  a  fair  experiment,  we  have  found 
how  much  easier  it  is  to  put  an  end  to  slavery  than 
to  elevate  the  blacks  to  an  equal  standing  with  the 
whites  in  society,  and  in  the  management  of  public 
all'airs.  They  are  however  advancing  slowly  ;  and, 
although  we  hear  complaints  of  commercial  losses, 
consequent  on  emancipation,  and  of  exports  of  sugar 


Ch*p.  X. 


FREE    MEN    OF    COLOUR. 


167 


I  H 


gar 


and  coffee  falling-  off,  there  seems  little  doubt  that  the 
negro  population,  comprising  the  great  bulk  of  the  in- 
li:ii)itanls,  are  better  informed,  better  clothed,  and 
li.tppier,  in  their  own  way,  than  during  tiie  peiiod 
wlien  all  were  slaves.  A  gradual  transfer  of  land  is 
going  on  in  Barbadoes,  Jamaica,  and  other  large  isl- 
aiuls,  from  the  original  proprietors  to  the  negroes,  who 
are  abandoning  the  cultivation  of  sugar,  and  raising 
such  crops  and  fruits  of  the  earth  ar.  they  can  obtain 
with  moderate  labour.  There  has  not  been  time  to 
ascertain  whether  the  freed  men  will  ever  have  aspi- 
rations after  tliat  iiigher  civilization,  which  distin- 
guishes a  few  of  the  more  advanced  among  the  na- 
tions of  western  Europe  ;  but  this  problem  has  still  to 
be  solved  with  regard  to  the  Chinese  and  many  other 
large  sections  of  the  human  familv. 

^'he  near  approach  to  universal  sudiagc  in  the 
United  States  appears  to  jno  one  of  the  most  serious 
obstacles,  both  to  the  disfrauclusoment  of  the  slaves 
in  the  South,  and  to  their  obtaining,  when  Ucl'l],  a 
proper  station  relatively  to  the  whites.  V>  herever 
property  confers  the  right  of  voting,  the  men  of  colour 
can  at  once  be  admitted  without  danger  to  an  absolute 
equahty  of  poHtical  riglits,  the  more  industrious  alone 
becoming  invested  with  j)rivilcgos  which  arc  witliheld 
from  the  indigent  and  most  worthless  of  the  dominant 
race.  Such  a  recognition  of  rightt?  not  only  raises  the 
negroes  in  their  opinion  of  themselves,  but.  what  is  of 
far  more  consequence,  accustoms  a  portion  of  the  other 
race  to  respect  them.  In  the  free  states,  we  were  often 
painfully  reminded  of  the  wide  chasm  which  now  sep- 
arates the  whites  from  the  emancipated  man  of  colour. 

If  there  be  any  place  ^vl^ere   distinctions  of  birth, 


'!■ 


■  I 


^iii 


fi- 


1 1;    ," 

It! 


li-  f 


w.  r 


108 


DEPRESSED    CONDITION    OF 


CiFAP. 


X. 


wealth,  station,  and  rare  should  be  forgotten,  it  is  the 
temple  where  the  Christian  precept  is  inculcated  that 
ail  men  arc  equal  Ijefore  God.  On  one  occasion  in 
New  England,  wlien  we  were  attending  the  admin- 
istration of  the  sacrament  in  an  Episcopal  church,  we 
saw  all  the  wliite  communicants  first  come  forward, 
and  again  retire  to  their  pews,  before  any  of  the  col- 
oured people  advanced,  most  of  whom  were  as  well 
dressed  as  ourselves,  and  some  only  a  shade  darker  in 
camj)lexion.  In  another  Episcopal  church  in  Ntw 
York,  the  order  and  sanctity  of  the  service  was,  foi  a 
moment,  in  danger  of  being  disturbed  because  some  of 
the  whites  had  been  accidentally  omitted,  so  that  they 
came  to  the  altnr  after  tlie  coloured  conununicants. 
After  a  slight  confusion,  however,  our  feelings  were  re- 
lieved by  the  ofiiciating  minister  procec'ding  and  show- 
ing his  resolution  not  to  allow  any  interruption  from 
this  accident.  J  had  no  opportunity  of  witnessing  th< 
good  example  said  to  be  set  by  the  Roman  Cathol,'* 
clergy  in  prohibiting  all  invidious  distinctions  in  thei' 
cluirches  ;  but  we  know  in  Europe  how  nnich  mor.* 
the  jx)or  and  the  rich  are  mingled  together  indifferently 
in  the  performance  of  their  devotions  in  Romanist, 
churches   than  in  most  of  the  Anglo-protestant  con- 


ffregatioHs. 


The  extent  to  which  the  Americans  carry  their  re- 
))tignnnce  to  all  association  with  the  coloured  race  on 
e(|ual  terms  remained  to  the  last  an  enigma  to  mc. 
Tlu-y  feel,  for  example,  an  insurmountable  objection 
to  sit  down  to  the  same  table  with  a  well-dressed,  well- 
informed,  nnd  well-educated  nin-i  of  colour,  wliile  the 
same  persons  would  freely  welcome  one  of  their  own 
race  of  meaner  capacity  and  ruder  manners  to  boon 


Chap.  x. 


FREE    MEN    OF    COLOUR. 


169 


rompanionship.  I  have  no  doubt  that  if  I  rcmamed 
lieie  far  some  years  I  should  imbibe  the  same  feeUngs, 
and  sympathise  witli  what  now  appears  to  me  an  al- 
most incoiuprchcnyiblo  prc^judice.  If  the  repugnance 
arose  from  any  physical  causes,  any  natural  antipathy 
of  race,  we  sliould  not  seethe  rijh  Southerners  employ- 
in  [^  black  slav(3s  to  wait  on  their  persons,  prepare  iheir 
fjoil,  nurse  and  suckle  their  white  children,  and  live 
with  ibem  as  mistresses.  We  should  never  sec  the 
black  lady's  maid  sitting  in  the  same  carriage  with  her 
mistress,  and  supporting  her  when  fatigued,  and  last, 
thou'Tli  not  least,  we  should  not  meet  with  a  numerous 
mixed  breed  springi?ig  up  every  where  from  the  union 
of  (he  two  races. 

\Vc  nnist  seek  then  for  other  causes  of  so  general 
and  powerful  a  nature  as  lo  be  capable  of  inliuencing 
almost  equall3'tlie  opinions  of  thirteen  millions  of  men. 
We  well  know  that  the  ajjolition  of  villeinage  and  serf- 
lom  has  never  enabled  the  immediate  descendants  of 
i'n^ednien,  however  rich,  talented,  and  individually 
meritorious,  to  intermarry  and  be  received  on  a  footing 
of  perfect  c(uiahty  with  the  best  families  of  their  coun- 
try, or  with  that  class  on  vv'hich  their  fathers  w^cre  re- 
cently dependent.  If  in  Europe  there  had  been  some 
indehble  mark  of  ancestral  degradation,  some  livery, 
handed  down  indefinitely  from  one  generation  to  an- 
other, like  the  colour  of  the  African,  there  is  no  saying 
how  long  the  most  galling  disabilitit.-s  rf  the  villein 
would  have  survived  tlie  total  abohtioL  '>y  law  of  per- 
sonal servitude.  But,  fortunately,  in  Western  Europe, 
the  slaves  belonged  to  the  same  race  as  their  masters, 
whereas,  in  the  United  States,  the  negro  cannot  throw 

15 


"■A 


i' 


■Ml 


I'! 


!^ 


I         i    ;    ■        • 


^:  U' 


(•1; 


f'M] 


Wt 


N«:l 


mi\ 


170 


NEGRO    RESERVATIONS. 


ClfAF. 


off  the  livery  which  betrays  to  the  remotest  jwsterity 
the  low  condition  of  his  forefathers. 

There  are  Indian  reservations,  and  I  often  asked 
why  there  should  not  be  also  negro  reservations,  or 
large  territories  set  apart  for  free  blacks,  where  tliey 
might  form  independent  states  or  communities.  It 
would  be  proper  to  select  those  districts  where  the  cli- 
mate is  insalubrious  to  Europeans,  but  where  the  blacks 
are  perfectly  healthy.  I  was  assured  that  no  scheme 
could  be  more  Utopian — that  the  negroes,  if  left  to 
themselves,  would  abandon  the  cultivation  of  sugar, 
cotton,  and  all  the  crops  most  appropriate  to  such  laiuls. 
All  this  I  can  conceive ;  but  my  friends  went  on  to  ob- 
ject that  the  negroes  would  soon  sink  into  savage  lite, 
and  make  marauding  expeditions  beyond  their  front  ier. 
I  have  no  doubt  that  if  the  two  parties  were  left  with- 
out a  powerful  check,  some  attempt  would  soon  be 
made  at  territorial  encroachments,  but  it  is  easy  to 
foresee  which  party  would  be  the  formidable  aggre<tsor. 


Is     / 


»>!. 


'!' 


Chat,  xi 


PHILADELPHIA. 


ITl 


«t 


CHAPTER  XI. 


,  i\ 


Philadelphia. — Financial  Crisis. — Payment  of  State  Dividemfs  sus- 
pended.— General  Distress  and  private  Losse.<i  of  the  Amer irons. 
— Debt  of  Pennsylvania. — Public  Works. — Direct  Taxes. —  De- 
ficient  Revenue. — Bad  Faith  and  Confiscation. — Irrrsponsibh'  Ex- 
ecutive.— Loar.  refused  by  European  Capitalists  in  18-12. — Good 
Faith  of  Congress  during  the  War  of  liy  12-14. —Ejects  of  Uni- 
versal Suffrage. — Fraudulent  Voting. — Aliens.  —  Solvency  and 
guud  Faith  of  the  Majority  of  the  States. — Confidence  of  Amer- 
ican Capitalists. — Reform  of  the  Electoral  Body. — General  Prog- 
ress of  Society,  and  Prospects  of  the  Republit . 


k 


Philadelphia.,  Jamiary  to  March,  1842. — Wish- 
ing to  borrow  some  bool^s  at  a  circulating  library,  I 
presented  several  dollar  notes  as  a  deposit.  At  borne 
there  might  have  been  a  ringinc^  of  coin  upon  the  coun- 
ter, to  ascertain  whether  it  \vas  true  or  counterfeit; 
here  the  shopwoman  referred  to  a  small  pamphlet,  re- 
edited  "  semi-monthly."  called  a  "  Detector,"  and  con- 
taining an  interminable  list  of  banks  in  all  parts  of  the 
Union,  with  information  as  to  their  present  condition, 
whether  solvent  or  not,  and  whether  paying  in  specie, 
and  adding  a  description  of  "  spurious  notes."  After  a 
slight  hesitation,  the  perplexed  librarian  shook  her 
head,  and  declaring  her  belief  that  my  .lotes  were  as 
good  as  any  others,  said,  if  I  would  promise  to  take 
thein  back  again  on  my  return,  and  pay  her  in  cash,  1 
might  have  the  volumes. 

It  often  happened  that  when  we  offered  to  bii}^  arti- 
cles of  small  value  in  shops,  or  fruit  in  the  market,  the 
venders  declined  to  have  any  dealings  with  us,  unless 


...  u 


mm. 


.^-'    4'.      ' 


''IP     ■ 

[Wr  ..." 


') 


I  » 


v«i 


172 


FINANTIAf,    rillRIS. 


CnAP.  XL 


h  ! 


\vc  paid  in  spccio.  'IMiry  roiiimkoc!  tlmt  tlicir  chance 
iiiiixhl  ill  a  ft'w  days  bo  woilli  more  tliaii  our  papor. 
Many  l"armcr.>  and  j^ardonc'rs  arc  ccasinj?  to  hriiii^  ihrir 
produce  to  markfl,  allliouj^li  tlio  cro|)s  are  very  ahiiii- 
ilaiit,  and  prices  are  risini,'  hi<;li(!r  and  hijrlier,  as  if  ilio 
cifv  wns  hesieijed.  Mv  American  friends,  anxious  liiat 
1  sli'iuid  not  Ite  a  lo-er,  examined  all  my  dollar  notes, 
and  persuaded  me,  before  I  set  out  on  my  travels,  to 
convert  tliem  into  gold,  at  a  discoimt  of  ei<;lit  per  cent. 
In  less  than  four  weeks  after  this  transaction,  there 
was  a  general  return  to  casii  paymenis!,  and  the  four 
baidvs  by  whicii  the  greater  part  of  my  paper  had  been 
issued,  all  failed. 

A  parallel  might  perhaps  be  found  for  a  crash  of  this 
kind  in  the  commercial  and  fmancial  history  of  Eng- 
land, or  at  least  in  some  of  her  colonies,  Australia,  for 
example,  where  the  unliountled  facility  all()rdcd  to  a 
new  country  of  liorrowing  the  superabujidant  caj)ifalof 
an  old  one,  has  caused  a  sudden  rise  in  the  value  of 
lands,  houses,  and  goods,  and  promoted  tbe  maddest 
speculations.  But  an  event  now  occurred  of  a  diirereiit 
and  far  more  serious  nature.  One  morning  we  weie 
told  that  the  Governor  of  PcMinsylvania  had  come  in 
great  haste  from  Harrisburg,  in  consequence  of  the 
stoppage  of  one  of  the  banks  in  the  city,  in  which  were 
lodged  the  funds  intended  for  the  payment  of  dividends? 
on  state  bonds,  due  in  a  few  days.  On  this  emergency 
he  endeavoured  to  persuade  otiier  banks  to  advance  the 
money,  but  in  vain  ;  such  was  the  general  alaim,  and 
feeling  of  insecurity.  The  cunsocjuent  neci^ssity  of  a 
delay  of  payment  was  announced,  raid  many  native 
holders  of  slock  expressed  to  me  their  fears,  that  al- 
though they  might  obtain  the  diudend  then  actually 


Chap.  xi. 


DEllT    OF    rilNNsJVLV  AMA. 


173 


' ', ' 

I* 

dufi,  it  mi^lit  bo  loui^  lu-foro  thoy  rrrrivod  nnntlicr.  At 
(lu-  saiiR!  liiiu;  llit-y  doflaicil  (lit'ii  ronviction,  llial  the 
icsoiircrsi  ol"  the  ^Stalc,  il'  well  inanai^cd,  wcic  aii.plc  ; 
and  that,  if  it  depciidod  on  the  more  alllueiit  Jiieicliaiiis 
ol'  I'iiiladelphia,  and  ihc  richer  poriiun  ol"  ihe  middle 
olas^  g'eiieruily,  to  impose  and  pay  I  Ik;  taxes,  th(;  iiun- 
oiir  of  I'eiuisylvaiiia  would  not  he  compromised. 

Il  was  painful  to  witness  t!»e  ruin  and  distres-;  occa- 
sioned by  this  last  blow,  following,  as  it  did,  so  many 
previous  disasters,     yitni  advanced  in  y<'ais,   and    re- 
tired from  active  life,  after  sueccs-^'  in  business,  o'-  at  the 
bar,  or  after  military  service,  too  old  to  miurale  vvilli 
their  families  to  tlie  West,  and  login  the  world  again, 
are  lel't  destitute;   many  widows  and   single    women 
hive   lost  their  all,  and  great  nundiers  of  the  poorer 
classes  are  deprived   of  thiir  savinj^s.     yVn  erroneous 
notion  j)revails  in  England  that  the  misciy  created  by 
iluse  bankruptcies  is  confined  chiclly  to  foreigners,  but, 
in  fact,  n»any  of  the  poorest  citizens  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  of  other  k?tates,  had  invested  money  in  these  sectt- 
riti(.'s.     In  18-11,  or  two  years  after  my  stay  in  Fhil- 
adelphia,  the  Savings'  Baidv  of  New  York  presented  a 
petition  to  the  letrislature  at  llarrisburg  for  a  resunip- 
lion  of  payment  of  dividends,  in  which  it  was  stated 
that  their  bank  then  held  3(){),()(K)  dollars,  and  had  held 
SOO.OtH),  but  was  obliged  to  sell  5U().(^()0  at  a  great  dc- 
j)reciation,  in  order  to  pay  the  claimants,  who  wcie 
compelled  by   the  distress  of  the  times   to   withdraw 
llieir  deposits. 

The  debt  of  Pennsylvania  amounted  to  about 
LS,tH;0,0(lO/.  sterling,  nearly  two  thirds  of  which  was 
held  by  British  owners;  and  as  a  majority  of  these 
belonged  to  that  party  which  always  indulged  the  most 

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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)872-4503 


174 


DEBT    OF    PKNN.SVLVAXIA. 


Chap.  xi. 


ik 


1M 


*■'.',<, 


sang-iiine  hopes  of  the  prospects  of  the  American  re- 
public, and  estimaled  most  liif^hly  the  private  worth  of 
the  people  and  their  capacity  for  self-government,  tliey 
suiUMcd  doubly,  being  disappointed  alike  in  their  pecu- 
niary speculations  and  their  political  views.  It  was 
natural,  therefore,  that  a  re-action  of  feeling  should 
eiubitfcr  their  minds,  and  incline  them  to  magnify  and 
exaggerate  the  iniquity  of  that  conduct  which  had  at 
once  injpugned  the  soundness  of  their  judgment,  and 
indicted  a  severe  injury  on  their  fortunes.  Hence,  not 
a  few  of  them,  confounding  together  the  different 
States,  have  represented  all  the  Americans  as  little 
better  than  swindlers,  who,  having  defrauded  Europe 
of  many  millions  sterling,  were  enjoying  tranquilly  and 
with  impunity  the  fruits  of  their  knavery.  The  pub- 
lic works  executed  with  foreign  capital  are  supposed 
by  many  in  England  to  yield  a  large  profit  on  the 
outlay,  which  is  not  the  case  in  any  one  of  the  delin- 
quent States. 

The  loss  or  temporary  suspension  of  the  interest  even 
of  one  third  of  the  above-mentioned  debt,  in  a  country 
like  Pennsylvania,  where  there  is  a  small  amount  of 
capital  to  invest,  and  that  belonging  chiefly  to  persons 
incapable  of  exerting  themselves  to  make  money,  a 
country  where  property  is  so  much  divided,  and  where 
such  extensive  failures  had  preceded  this  crisis,  inflicts 
a  far  deeper  wound  on  the  happiness  of  the  community, 
than  the  defalcation  of  a  much  larger  sum  in  Great 
Britain  would  occasion. 

When  we  inquire  into  the  circumstances  which  have 
involved  the  Pennsylvanians  in  their  present  difficul- 
ties, we  shall  find  that,  disgraceful  as  their  conduct  has 
been,  their  iniquity  is  neither  so  great,  nor  the  pros- 


XI. 


'J  5 


ChAI     XI. 


PUBLIC    WORKS. 


175 


pcct  of  their  affairs  righting  themselves  so  desperate,  as 
might  at  first  sight  he  supposed.  Every  holder  of 
Peiinsylvanian  bonds  is  undoubtedly  entitled  to  assume 
that  "there's;  somethina:  rotten  in  the  state  of  Den- 
mai  k,"  and  to  observe  to  any  traveller  who  extenuates 
the  delinquency  of  the  State,  "  the  better  you  think  of 
the  people,  the  worse  opinion  you  must  entertain  of 
their  institutions."  How,  under  a  representative  form 
of  government,  can  such  events  occur  in  time  of  peace, 
and,  moreover,  in  a  state  so  wealthy,  that  an  income 
tax  of  1^  per  cent,  would  yield  the  two  milions  of  dol- 
lars required,*  and  where  the  interest  on  the  bonds  was 
not  usurious  nor  unusual  in  America — unless  the  ma- 
jority of  the  electors  be<corrupt  or  grossly  ignorant? 

It  appears  that  in  the  year  1831,  when  Pennsylvania 
borrowed  a  large  sum  lor  making  railways  and  canals, 
she  imposed  direct  taxes  for  seven  years,  for  the  express 
purpose  of  regularly  paying  the  interest  of  her  debt.  It 
was  hoped,  from  the  experience  of  New  York,  that,  at 
tlie  expiration  of  that  term  of  years,  the  pubHc  works 
would  become  sufficiently  prolitable  to  render  it  un- 
necessary to  renew  the  tax.  The  inhabitants  went  on 
paying  until  the  year  1836,  when  the  government 
thought  itself  justified  in  remitting  the  burden,  on  being 
unexpectedly  enriched  by  several  large  sums  from  va- 
rious sources.  In  that  year  they  received  for  granting 
a  charter  to  the  U.  S.  Bank  of  Pennsylvania  2,600,000 
dollars,  and  2,800,000  more  for  their  share  of  monies 
which  had  accuniu'ated  in  the  treasury  of  the  Federal 
Government,  arising  out  of  the  sale  of  pubhc  lands,  and 
then  divided  among  the  States.  It  was  calculated  that 
these  funds  would  last  for  three  years,  and  that  the 

*  Tucker's  Process  of  the  U.  S.  1843,  p.  210. 


'If 


W' 


■"<'.. 


Uh 


m 


f 


^|i:i 


ni 


!;:• ..  V 


l! 


\l'- 


■ 


n 


i  S; 


176 


OVER-TRADING. 


Cii 


A  I".  X\ 


public  works  would  by  that  time  yield  a  ic\enue  siidi. 
cient  to  defray  the  interest  of  tlic  sum  laiil  out  on  exe- 
cuting theni. 

Tliat  the  legislature  should  have  seized  the  first  op- 
portunity of  relieving  their  constituents  from  the  direct 
taxes  will  astonish  no  one  who  has  perused  the  printed 
paper  of  the  tax-assessor  in  Pennsylvania,  which  every 
one  is  required  to  fill  up.  Thenccessity  of  ascertaining 
the  means  of  persons  possessed  of  small  property  lenders 
the  questions  exceedingly  minute  and  incpiisitorial. 
From  a  variety  of  others,  I  extract  the  following : — 
"What  is  the  amount  of  your  monies  loaned  on  mort- 
gage,  and  the  debts  due  to  you  by  solvent  debtors?" 
"  What  interest  do  they  pay  ?"  '•  What  shares  do  you 
hold  in  any  bank  or  company  in  any  other  Stale  P 
"  How  many  pleasure  carriages  do  you  keep  ?"  "  How 
.nany  watches  do  you  own  ? — are  they  gold  or  silver  V 
and  so  forth. 

Soon  after  the  ill-judged  remission  of  this  tax,  a  great 
combination  of  circumstances  led  to  over-trad  In  u',  and 
the  most  extravagant  schemes  of  money-making.  I'he 
United  States'  Bank,  during  its  controversy  with  Pres- 
ident Jackson,  had  accumulated  a  large  amount  of 
specie,  and  lent  it  out  most  lavishly  and  imprudently; 
and  when  it  obtained  its  new  charter  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, it  again  promoted  loans  of  all  kinds,  which  gave 
an  inordinate  stimulus  to  speculation.  Some  of  the 
great  London  banks,  at  the  same  time,  gave  credit  to 
a  prodigious  amount,  often  without  sufficient  caulioii ; 
and  when  they  were  compelled  to  withdraw  this  credit 
suddenly,  they  had  not  time  to  distinguish  which  of 
their  creditors  were  worthy  of  confidence.  A  great  fire 
in  New  York,  in  1835,  had  annihilated  property  to  the 


\t< 


I  V  III! 


ill 


Chap.  xi. 


NON-PAYMENT    OF    DIVIDENDS. 


177 


value  of  six  millions  sterling'.  After  the  United  States' 
Bank  liad  ceased  to  be  fonnccted  with  the  Federal 
Government,  many  other  States,  besides  Pennsylvania, 
granted  ciiarters  to  banks,  which  led  to  an  over-issue 
of  notes,  and  a  hot-bed  forcing'  of  trade  tiuoughout  the 
Union.  Then  came,  in  1839,  tiie  miserahle  expedient 
of  authorizing  banks  to  suspend  cash  payments,  and  in 
1841,  the  stoppage  of  the  great  U.  S.  Bank  of  Penn- 
sylvania, followed  by  a  general  j.iaiiic  and  financial 
crisis. 

It  is  necessary  to  reflect  on  these  events,  in  order  to 
understand  how  the  insolvency  of  lVnnsy{\tinia  was 
brought  about ;  but  no  American  writer  or  slati^sman 
of  any  character  pretends  to  excuse  or  palliate  the  con- 
duct of  her  legislature  in  1S30,  1840,  and  1841.  In 
these  years,  there  was  an  actual  excess  in  the  ordinary 
expenditure  of  the  State  for  the  purposes  of  government 
and  education,  over  the  receipts  liom  all  sources  of  rev- 
enue, except  the  public  works.  The  proceeds  of  these 
last  were  appropriated  to  the  payment  of  the  interest 
of  the  debt,  for  which  they  were  lamentably  insuflxient. 
In  what  manner  were  these  various  deficits  provided 
for?  Not  by  ihe  imposition  of  new  burdens,  but  by 
borrowing,  and  adding  annually  to  the  public  debt. 
The  party  in  |X)wer  shrank  from  the  unpopularity  of 
laying  on  new  taxes  ;  and  the  sligiit  share  of  discredit 
incurred  by  them  at  the  time,  for  tins  glaring  act  of 
bad  faith,  places  in  a  strong  light  the  mischief  arising 
from  the  small  power  here  confided  to  the  executive. 

The  Governor  tells  the  Houses  that  there  is  a  de- 
ficiency in  the  revenue,  and  they  are  left  to  make  the 
best  of  it.  and  appoint  a  committee  of  ways  and  means, 
composed   usually  of  members   very  incompetent  as 


tl'«to'"f>".i 


m 


'yi'4 


■  i.i 


178 


NON-PAYMENT    OP    DIVIDENDS. 


CiiAr.  XL 


|4    ii  '■' 


financiers.  It  is  for  them  to  consider  what  is  to  Imj 
done ;  there  is  no  experienced  official  Minister  of  Fi- 
nance, no  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  whose  duty  it  is 
to  come  forward  with  a  budget,  and  declare,  like  the 
English  minister  in  1842  : — "  Here  is  an  income-tax, 
to  which  you  must  submit,  or  we  resign."  The  jeal- 
ousy on  the  part  of  the  people,  and  their  fears  of  the 
abuses  of  a  strong  executive,  have  induced  them  to 
circumscribe  its  powers  so  much,  that  they  have  vir- 
tually deprived  it  of  all  responsibility.  In  their  attempt 
to  avoid  one  evil,  they  have  fallen  into  another  as  great, 
if  not  greater. 

The  resources  of  the  country  were  so  paralyzed  in 
1842,  amidst  the  general  wreck,  and  crash  of  commer- 
cial houses  and  banks,  that  the  suspension  of  the  pay- 
ment of  one  or  two  State  dividends  had  become  un- 
avoidable ;  but  the  non-payment  even  of  a  fraction  of 
the  interest  in  1843-4,  during  a  period  of  reviving  pros- 
perity and  sound  currency,  reiiects  no  small  disgrace 
3n  the  people,  or  discredit  on  the  nature  of  their  in- 
stitutions. 

It  appears  that  in  the  year  1841,  before  the  regular 
payment  of  dividends  was  suspended,  a  new  property 
tax  was  imposed,  which  came  into  play  in  1842,  and 
yielded  to  the  State  486,000  dollars ;  and  558,000  more 
in  1843,  and  an  additional  sum  in  1844,  of  755,000 
dollars.  These  retuins  being  inadequate,  a  new  tax 
was  laid  on  in  1844,  with  more  stringent  regulations 
for  enforcing  its  collection,  and  it  is  now  expected  (De- 
cember, 1844)  that  the  public  creditor,  whose  arrears 
of  unpaid  dividends  have,  in  the  mean  time,  been 
funded,  will  receive  his  due.  But  how  many  bond- 
holdors  have  been  already  obliged  to  seU  out,  while 


\)} 


Chat.  xi. 


CAUSES    OF    DEFALCATION. 


179 


others  are  dead  and  gone,  so  that  restitution  to  all  be- 
comes impossible ;  and  thus,  to  a  certain  extent,  an 
irretrievable  act  of  confiscation  has  been  perpetrated ! 

Let  us  now  consider  how  far  these  evils  can  be  at- 
tributed to  causes  of  so  general,  lasting,  and  deep-seated 
a  nature,  as  to  have  justified  the  monied  men  of  Eng- 
land and  the  Continent,  in  1842,  in  the  distrust  man- 
ifested by  them  of  the  good  faith  of  the  whole  Union. 
Such  a  want  of  confidence  was  displayed  when  the 
agent  of  the  Federal  Government  failed  to  obtain  in 
Europe  a  loan  of  a  few  millions  sterling  oflfered  on  very 
advantageous  terms. 

On  referring  to  the  history  of  the  United  States, 
during  the  present  century,  we  find  that  in  the  course 
of  the  war  of  1812 — 1814,  the  nation  had  incurred  a 
debt  about  equal  to  that  now  owing  (1844)  by  all  the 
delinquent  States.  A  proposal  was  twice  made  in  Con- 
gress to  discontinue  the  payment  of  dividends  to  the 
English  creditors,  on  the  ground  that  they  were  ene- 
mies. On  both  occasions,  the  proposal  was  rejected,  as 
dishonest,  and  with  marked  expressions  of  disapproba- 
tion ;  at  a  time  when  direct  taxes  levied  by  the  Federal 
Government  pressed  heavy  on  the  people.  The  debt 
went  on  increasing  after  the  close  of  the  war,  but  was 
it  length  entirely  paid  off  in  1835.  These  transactions 
raised  the  character  of  American  securities  throughout 
Europe ;  and  the  altered  tone  of  feeling  evinced  in 
1842  is  the  more  remarkable,  as  it  occurred  in  a  time 
of  profound  peace,  when  there  was  no  immediate  an- 
ticipation of  war,  and  when  it  was  well  known  that 
between  the  years  1812  and  1842,  the  wealth  and  ter- 
ritory of  the  confederacy  had  increased  enormously,  and 
tlie  population  more  than  doubled.    In  fact,  "the  ad* 


'.  i  '  ii 


;  M 


n 


¥' 


180 


UNIVERSAL    SUFFRAGE. 


Chap  zi 


A 


ill 


IV 'I 


i'^1 


H 


:    1 


it 


■J:' 


'      !F' 


l>'ii 


;  I!:; 


vance  in  the  number  of  the  inhabitants  in  this  short 
interval  was  from  eight  to  eigiitecn  niilHons;  tiie  ex- 
cess alone  amounting  to  more  than  the  population  of 
all  England  at  the  commencement  of  the  present 
century. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  course  of  events  during 
the  thirty  years  above  alluded  to  has  afforded  grounds 
of  anxiety  to  those  who  admire  republican  institutions 
and  to  every  well-wisher  of  the  prosperity  of  the  Union. 
They  who  would  make  a  permanent  investment  of 
money  in  U.  S.  stock  must  anticipate  the  possibility  of 
war,  and  of  a  consequent  reduction  of  revenue  from  the 
customs.  If  it  then  became  necessary  to  lay  on  direct 
taxes,  we  have  to  consider,  whether  a  majority  of  all 
the  citizens  would  be  likely  to  evince  as  much  repu;j- 
nance  to  pay  their  dividends  punctually  to  foreign  and 
domestic  creditors  as  the  Pennsylvanians  and  Mary- 
landers  have  recently  shown.  If  it  has  required  several 
years  to  rouse  the  electors  of  these  ancient  States  to  a 
sense  of  their  duty  and  honour,  would  the  consciences 
of  the  new  settlers  in  ruder  and  less  advanced  com- 
munities, constituting  a  large  portion  of  the  Union,  be 
more  sensitive  ? 

As  politicians,  no  people  are  so  prone  to  give  way  to 
groundless  fears  and  despondency  respecting  the  pros- 
pects of  affairs  in  America  as  the  English,  partly  be- 
cause thej-  know  little  of  the  condition  of  society  there, 
and  partly  from  their  own  well-founded  conviction,  ihat 
a  near  approach  to  universal  suffrage  at  home  would 
lead  to  anarchy  and  insecurity  of  property.  To  divide 
the  land  equally  among  all,  to  make  an  "equitable 
adjustment"  of  the  national  debt,  or,  in  other  words,  to 
repudiate,  are  propositions  gravely  discussed  at  Chartist 


Chap.  xi. 


t; n I V e II s a l  s l I •  I' u a g e . 


181 


meetings,  and  even  embodied  in  numerously  si;.rneil 
pelitioiis  to  juuliameiit.  Tlic  majority  even  of  tiio 
ili'mocralic  parly  in  tiie  U.  S.  would  probably  assent  to 
ibc  opinion,  tlitit  in  England,  wlierc  tliere  is  so  nuicli 
actual  want,  wliere  one  tenth  of  the  j)opulation,  or 
1,50(1.000  persons,  receive  parocliial  relief,  where  edu- 
cation has  made  such  slow  progress  amoni^'  the  poor, 
anil  wbere  tliere  is  hooutletin  the  Far  West,  no  safety- 
valve  for  the  escape  of  the  redundant  iidiabitant^;,  it 
v.ould  be  most  dangeious  to  entrust  every  adult  male 
with  the  rigbt  of  voting.  Yet  in  America  they  think 
the  e.\j)eriment  a  safe  one,  or  even  contend  tliat  it  has 
succeeded.  LJul  not  a  i'cw  of  the  o|)posite  paify,  how- 
ever inexpedient  and  useless  they  may  liiink  it  to  agi- 
tate the  question,  agrc*;  with  the  majority  of  l^uropean 
j)oliticians  in  considering  that  it  has  lowered  and  de- 
teriorated the  character  of  the  electoral  body. 

it  is  undeniable  that  the  rapidity  with  which  the 
native  population  has  multiplied  throughout  the  Union, 
and  still  more  the  hillux  of  aliens  into  every  State,  has 
had  a  tendency  to  cause  the  whole  country  to  resemble 
a  new  colony,  rather  than  an  old  and  long-established 
nation.  Not  only  many  new  Territories  and  States, 
but  even  some  of  the  old  ones,  such  as  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania,  contain  so  much  unoccupie  .  vTid  tbat 
they  are  full  of  adventurers  and  speculators  i  om  otlier 
j)arts  of  America,  and  of  new-comers  from  Europe, 
speaking  diilerent  languages,  often  cherishing  foreign 
prejudices,  and  disturbing  the  equilibrium  of  native 
jtarties,  founded  on  broad  and  distinct  views  of  home 
policy.  I  have  already  remarked,  that,  on  the  south- 
ern frontier  of  the  State  of  New  York  (p.  59.),  I  saw 
the  native  forest  yielding  as  fast  to  the  axe  of  the  new 

16 


n 


iM 


if 


Iff 


:?*.  \* 


#, 


p-r- 

'     i! 

I 

i 

|i. 

!1' 


.il 


hM 


182 


PENNSYLVANIAN    GERMANS. 


Chap,  xl 


fit. 


li 


Ri. 

mm  9' 

Br  i;'; 

Hi  *i^i'h- 

Hm'    ~''''^'' 

P'ii 

■ftiiiii 

1 

settler,  as  if  we  had  penetrated  to  the  Far  West,  or  the 
back  wootis  of  Canada.  When  we  turn  to  her  north- 
ern confines,  we  learn  from  the  Reports  of  the  Geolwg- 
ical  Surveyors  employed  by  government  in  1837,  and 
subsequent  years,  tiiat  in  Essex  County  and  elsewlu-re 
they  had  recourse  to  Indian  guides  in  a  pathless  wil- 
derness, encountered  panthers  and  moose-deer,  found 
the  beaver  still  lingering  in  sonje  streams,  saw  lakes 
before  undescribed,  and  measured  the  height  of  moun- 
tains for  the  first  time.  During  my  short  sojourn  in 
the  metropolis  of  that  State,  1  witnessed,  among  other 
illustrations  of  the  heterogeneous  composition  of  its 
people,  a  grand  Repeal  demonstration,  an  endless  pro- 
cession of  Irish  parading  the  streets,  with  portraits  of 
O'Connell  emblazoned  on  their  banners,  and  various 
mottoes,  implying  that  their  thoughts  were  occupied 
with  party  questions  of  British,  not  of  j\merican  pol- 
itics. A  large  number  of  these  aliens  have,  contrary  to 
old  usage,  been  of  late  years  invested  with  electoral 
rights ;  and  candidates  for  places  in  the  magistracy,  or 
the  legislature,  are  degraded  by  paying  court  to  theii 
sympathies  and  ignorant  prejudices.  This  temptation 
is  too  strong  to  be  resisted  ;  for,  small  as  may  be  their 
numbers  when  compared  with  the  native  voters,  they 
often  turn  the  scale  in  an  election  where  the  great  con- 
stitutional parties  are  very  nearly  balanced. 

In  addition  to  some  of  these  evils,  Pennsylvania 
labours  under  the  disadvantage  of  being  jointly  occu- 
pied by  two  races,  those  of  British,  and  those  of  Ger- 
man extraction.  The  latter  are  spoken  of  by  the 
Anglo-Americans  as  the  Boeotians  of  the  land.  They 
appeared  to  me  industrious  and  saving,  very  averse  to 
speculation,  but  certainly  wanting  in   that  habit  of 


Chap.  xi. 


PE     NSYLVANIAN    GERMANS. 


183 


10 


the 
to 


identifying  tlicmselvos  with  the  acts  of  tli?ir  govem- 
mcnl,  wliich  can  alone  give  to  the  electors  under  a  rep- 
resentative system  a  due  sense  of  responsibilily.  Sonic 
of  them  talked  of  their  public  works  as  of  commercial 
projects  which  had  failed  ;  and  when  I  remarked  (hat, 
unlike  the  English,  whose  debts  were  incurred  by  car- 
rying on  wars,  they  were  at  least  reaping  some  advan- 
tage from  their  expenditure,  they  assured  me  I  was 
mistaken — that  such  cheap  and  rapid  means  of  locomo- 
tion were  positively  injurious,  by  facilitating  migrations 
to  the  West,  and  preventing  a  country  with  a  "sparse" 
population  from  filling  up.  For  this  reason,  their  lands 
had  not  risen  in  value  as  they  ought  to  have  done. 
They  protested  that  they  had  always  been  opposed  to 
railways  and  canals;  and  that  for  every  useful  line 
adopted,  there  was  sure  to  be  another  unnecessary 
canal  or  railway  made,  in  consequence  of  "  log-rolling'' 
in  their  legislature.  The  representatives,  tliey  say,  of 
each  sectioji  of  the  country,  would  only  consent  to  vote 
money,  if  they  could  obtain  a  promise  that  an  equal 
sum  should  be  laid  out  in  their  own  district,  and  to  this 
end  some  new  and  uncalled-for  scheme  had  to  l;e  in- 
vented. This  kind  of  jobbing  they  compare  to  log- 
rolling in  the  back  settlements,  where  the  thinly-scat- 
tered inhabitants  assemble  and  run  up  a  log-cabin  in  a 
single  day  for  the  new-comer,  receiving,  in  their  turn, 
Bome  corresponding  service,  whenever  the  union  of 
numbers  is  required. 

From  all  I  could  learn,  I  felt  inclined  to  believe,  that 
as  soon  as  these  Germans  were  convinced  that  they 
really  owed  the  money  they  would  pay  it.  There  are, 
however,  a  multitude  of  European  immigrants  who 
have  recently  been  admitted  to  take  part  in  the  eleo- 


i 


^-' 


j'  .1;  f 


!-     )i^ 


'1:i 


f^i  .' 


1:      I 


j ;  >  ■ 

1  '■  ■•  I, 


iM'^ 


184 


UXIVER.SAL    SlFFHAOn. 


CilAt.  XL 


tiniis  I)y  sli»ntoMiii<::  llif  term  ofyoars  rof|nln'(l  for  tiatii- 
mlizaliiHi.  It  is  also  notorious  that,  owiiii"'  totlio  neg- 
lect of  re  i^n  St  rat  ion,  many  aliein  vote  fraudulently,  and 
others  several  tiniey  over  at  (he  same  poll,  hi  various 
disiruiscs. 

"Co  those  nni^lish  politicians  who  are  not  accustonu'd 
to  look  with  favourifi*:;'  eyes  on  democratic  insliluliona 
in  "general,  iIk;  task  of  reformini^  such  abuses  appears 
hopeless.  By  what  el(  (pience,  they  ask,  can  we  per- 
suade an  ii^iiorant  mull  if  tide  to  abdicate  power,  if  wo 
have  once  taken  the  false  slej)of  c:)id"erring  sov<Meigniy 
upon  them  /  At  every  election  they  juust  become 
more  and  more  demoralized.  It  is  proverbially  didicult 
for  truth  to  reach  the  ears  of  kings  aiid  what  matters 
it  whether  the  sovereiy;n  consist  of  one  or  of  numy  in- 
dividuals? 'J'he  flattery  of  demago«^ues  is  not  less 
gross  and  servile  than  that  of  courtiers  in  the  palaces 
of  j)rinces.  The  candidates  for  popular  favour,  when 
appeaUng  to  the  passions  of  the  vulgar,  their  vanity, 
pride,  and  national  jealousy,  never  administer  their 
honied  drugs  in  homoeopathic  doses.  By  what  arts  or 
powers  of  oratory  can  we  hope  to  persuade  the  least 
educated  portion  of  the  comnumity,  wlien  they  have 
once  obtained  by  their  numbers  a  pre|)onderating  in- 
fluence, that  they  ought  to  be  disfranchised  / — that  the 
more  wealthy  citizens,  who  liave  leisure  for  study  and 
retlection,  will  shrink  from  the  ordeal  of  contested  elec- 
tions, if  they  must  defer  to  vulgar  prejudices,  and  coarser 
feelings  ; — in  a  word,  that  some  must  be  content  to 
break  stones  on  the  road  and  dig  canals,  instead  of 
clioosing  lawgivers,  and  instructing  them  how  to  vote? 

Nothing  is  more  easy  than  to  draw  so  discouraging 
a  picture  of  the  dangers  of  universal  sufliage,  that  we 


Chai'.  XI. 


AMKUICAN    CAIMTALISTS. 


1S5 


i\i 


aro  l«n1  to  (l('s|uiir  of  llic  irpiihlic,  niul  deciii  it  l:ir  .^lore 
woiidt'ifiil  tlial,  Oliio  slioiild  ));iy  than  llial  Missis.-i|)j)i 
t-liould  repudiate.  !-iit  wlieii  we  lak<:  a  nearer  view 
orieiM^it  oveiil.->,  tiiid  ubservt^  what  is  imw  L(<>iiio  on  ii'. 
the  U.  S.,  we  discover  L,noiuidti  for  vi»'win<r  iheir  allliirs' 
ia  a  very  dillerent  and  far  more  cheerful  h'^ht.  In  the 
first  place,  toncinni,f  iinancial  matters,  it  is  satisfactory 
to  know  that,  w  hen  tlie  Central  Ciovernment  failed,  in 
ISl:^,  to  contract  a  loan  in  Kurope,  the  American  cap- 
italists came  forward  without  hesitation,  and  advanced 
the  money  on  the  terms  which  had  hec.'n  rejected.  The 
new  stock  rose  at  once  above  par,  and  has  since  be- 
come saleable  in  Europe  at  a  premium  of  lb  per  cent. 
The  Americans  have,  also,  made  lari^e  purclwues,  in 
the  years  1813  and  1811,  of  the  bon<ls  of  Ohio,  Ken- 
tucky, Temiessce,  and  even  Pennsylvania;  and  Lad 
there  been  more  capital  seeking  investment  in  the  V. 
!S.,  their  securities  generally  would  have  changed  hand-^ 
to  a  greater  extent. 

This  confidence  is  not  based  on  nny  princij)les  of 
pure  jiatriolism,  but  on  cool  calculation  and  a,  knowl- 
edge that  all  but  nine  out  of  tweiitv-nine  Hlate..;  and 
Territories  are  either  free  from  <lebt,  or  have  been  true 
to  their  engagcnients.  The  only  JSfate  which  has  ku- 
nially  disowned  or  repudiated  a  portion  of  her  debt, 
amounting  to  about  one  million  sterling,  is  ]Mississi|)pi. 
She  does  not  deny  having  received  the  money,  or  a 
part  of  it,  but  has  the  clVrontery  to  allege,  as  ground  for 
non-payment,  that  her  agents  exceeded  their  jiowers, 
and  defrauded  her.  IMichigan,  also,  and  I'lorida,  have 
held  language  somewhat  bordering  on  repudiation  ;  but 
the  other  States  in  arrear  have  promised  to  pay,  and 
some  of  them  aic  exerting  themselves  in  earnest  to 

16* 


^     mCim 


IV  ' 


f  "Ij 


I- 1 


p.  i:n 


186 


SUFFRAGE    IN    NEW-ENGLAND. 


Chap. 


XL 


acoomplifjli  the  object.  Upon  the  whole,  the  interest 
of  nearly  luilf  tlie  money  biirrowed  has  been  regularly 
paid  ;  and  when  we  recollect  that  no  small  part  of  it 
was  lent  to  new  and  poor  Slates  or  Territories,  where 
society  is  still  in  a  rudo,  half-formed,  and  niigratory 
condition,  and  that  the  money  lent  rashly  and  incau- 
tiously was  spent,  as  might  have  been  expeclr  '  ini- 
providently,  we  must  view  their  delinquency  with  some 
indulgence,  and  assign  a  share,  at  least,  of  the  blame 
to  the  lender. 

The  state  of  Ohio  has  always  punctually  discharged 
the  interest  of  her  debt  by  direct  taxes  imposed  for  that 
special  purpose,  although  there  has  been  a  deficU  from 
the  beginning  on  the  proceeds  of  her  public  works.  She 
is  of  recer.t  origin,  and  her  growth  has  been  more  rank 
and  luxuriant  than  that  of  any  other  State  of  the 
Union.  An  influx  of  illiterate  Irish,  Welsl  and  West- 
phalian  settlers,  has  tended  to  lower  the  fjducational 
qualifications  of  her  elect(»rs,  considered  l  a  whole; 
but  she  came  of  a  good  New-England  stc  V,  which, 
like  the  philosopher's  stone,  has  converted  n  ich  of  her 
baser  metal  into  gold. 

Any  foreigner  who  has  hastily  embracec  the  notion 
that  a  sulfrage  virtually  universal  must  b  "ncompati- 
ble  in  the  U.  S.  with  order,  obedience  to  the  laws, 
security  of  property,  a  high  degree  of  civilization,  and 
the  most  unimpeac'iable  public  credit,  lias  only  to 
make  himself  acquainted  with  the  present  condition  of 
the  New-England  States,  especially  Massachusetts,  and 
he  will  feel  satisfied  that  the  charge  may  be  refuted. 
It  is  a  wholly  different  question  whether  so  democratic 
a  constitution  is  equally  fitted  for  the  exigencies  of 
many  other  parts  of  the  Union,  where  the  mass  of  the 


Chap.  xi. 


THE    PROGRESS    OF    SOCIETY. 


187 


people  are  less  advanced  in  knowledge  and  vrcallh, 
where  tiie  force  of  public  opinion  and  syinpalliy  is 
ciiecked,  and  the  free  communication  of  thought  im- 
peded, by  distinctness  of  races  and  of  language. 

Although  the  political  constitutions  of  the  several 
States  are  all  formed  on  one  great  model,  there  exists 
considerable  diversity  in  the  details  of  their  organiza- 
tion. The  qualifications  of  the  electors  and  legislators 
are  not  the  same  in  all,  nor  the  modes  of  appointment 
or  powers  of  the  Executive.  There  seems,  iiowcver, 
a  nearer  approach  to  uniformity,  than  can  be  consist- 
ent with  the  very  dillerent  degrees  of  social  advance- 
ment and  mental  cultivation  to  which  these  independ- 
ent States  have  attained. 

To  defects  and  blemishes  of  this  kind,  the  leading 
statesmen  in  America  are  not  blind,  and  both  the  evils 
and  their  remedies  are  subjects  of  the  freest  discussion. 
In  many  of  the  newspapers,  and  in  the  monthly  and 
quarterly  journals  of  both  parties,  in  public  lectures  and 
speeches  at  elections,  we  find,  during  the  last  three 
years,  the  conduct  of  repudiating  or  defaulting  States 
unsparingly  condemned.  The  most  earnest  appeals 
are  made  to  the  sense  of  justice  and  honour,  to  the  re- 
ligious feehngs  or  national  pride,  of  their  hearers  or 
readers ;  they  also  tell  them  that  it  is  their  interest  to 
pay,  and  that,  if  they  cannot  be  moved  by  higher 
motives,  they  should  remember  that  "  Honesty  is  the 
best  policy."  The  frequency  and  earnestness  of  these 
exhortations  sufficiently  prove  the  convi<'tion  of  the 
writers  and  orators  that  a  reform  may  be  brought  about. 
The  mischief  that  has  occurred  is  sometimes  adduced 
as  a  proof  that  education  and  habits  of  temperance,  al- 
though they  have  made  great  progress  during  the  last 


it 


;  ti 


f:'- 


V 


■i»' 


!1  1  i    : 
•     1  !; 

! 

■   ^1 

1;:  ji' 


I' 


♦.  ;.■    # 


188 


PROSPECTS    OF    THE    REPUBLIC.         Ciiap.  xi. 


fifteen  years,  have  not  yet  l)con  carried  far  enoiigli.  A 
more  sliict  royistratioii  of  tlic  electors  for  tl.e  siko  of 
piitling  an  end  to  fraudulent  voting,  and  the  exchision 
of  foreigners  from  the  electoral  body,  by  lengthening 
the  term  of  naturalization,  are  measures  warmly  in- 
sisted upon  by  the  party  opposed  to  the  extremes  of 
democracy — a  party  which,  so  late  as  the  year  1840, 
obtained  a  majority  in  a  presidential  election,  when  two 
millions  and  a  half  of  persons  gave  their  votes.  San- 
guine hopes  are  entertained  that  the  most  respectable 
members  of  the  democratic  party  will  also  join  in  elfect- 
ing  reforms  in  the  electoral  system  so  obviously  desira- 
!)le.  It  is  not  simply  the  fair  fame  and  happiness  of 
eighteen  millions  of  souls  which  are  at  stake  ;  for  du- 
ring the  lifetime  of  thousands  now  taking  part  in  pub- 
lic alfairs,  or  before  the  close  of  the  present  century, 
the  po|)ulalion  of  t'le  U.  S.  will  probably  amount,  even 
on  a  moderate  estimate,  to  no  less  than  eighty  mil- 
lions.* 

»  Tucker's  Progress  of  the  U.  S.,  p.  106. 


ClIAP.  ZII. 


NEW   YORK. 


189 


miit 


CHAPTER  XII. 


'  V-  >.:• 


i        > 


NeiD  York  City. — Geology. — Distribution  of  Erratic  Blocks  in  Long 
Island. — Residence  in  Nrw  York. — Effects  on  Society  of  inctensed 
Intercourse  of  distant  States. — Separation  of  the  Capital  and 
Metropolis.  —  Climate.  —  Geology  of  the  Taconic  Mountains.-^ 
Stratum  of  Plumbago  and  Anthracite  in  the  Mica  Schist  of  War' 
cester. —  Theory  of  its  Origin. — Lectures  for  the  Working  Cliis<>es. 
— Fossil  Foot-prints  of  Birds  in  Red  Sandstone. — Mount  Holyoke. 
— Visit  to  the  Island  of  Martha's  Vineyard. — Fossil  Walrus. — 
Indians 

New  York,  March,  1842. — The  island  on  which 
New  York  stands  k  composed  of  gneiss,  as  are  tlie  chflfs 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Hudson,  for  many  miles  above. 
At  Hol)okcn,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  clifTs  are 
seen  of  serpentine,  a  rock  which  appears  to  be  subordi- 
nate to  the  g^neiss.  as  in  many  parts  of  Norway  and 
Sweden.  All  these  formations,  as  well  as  the  syenite 
of  Statoii  Island,  correspond  very  closely  with  European 
rocks  of  the  same  order. 

Long  Island  is  about  130  miles  in  length,  and  the 
town  of  Brooklyn,  on  its  western  extremity,  may  be 
considered  as  a  suburb  of  New  York.  This  low  island 
is  every  where  covered  with  an  enormous  mass  of  drift 
or  diluvium,  and  is  the  most  southern  point  in  the 
United  States,  where  I  saw  large  erratic  blocks  in  great 
numbers.  Excavations  recently  made  in  the  Navy 
Yard  at  Brooklyn  have  exposed  the  boulder  formal i(>n 
to  the  depth  of  thirty  fed  ;  the  lowest  portion  there 
seen  consisting  of  red  clay  and  loam,  with  boulders  of 
trap  and  sandstone,  is  evidently  the  detritus  of  the  New 


!    ''■ 


•:;pt. 


^wM' 


%^ 


h 


I  i5 


iU 


:!^ 


■'At 

if'!'. 


I 


II. 


I 


j4; 


190 


STRATIFIED    DRIFT. 


Chap,  ^h. 


,  i  '  -I 


Red  Sandstone  formation  of  New  Jersey.  This  mass, 
in  the  sections  where  I  observed  it,  was  alwut  eighteen 
feet  thick,  and  rudely  stratified.  Above  it  lay  an  un- 
stratitied  grey  loam,  partly  of  coarse  and  partly  of  fine 
materials,  with  boulders  and  angular  blocks  of  gneibs, 
eyenilic  greenstone,  and  other  crystalline  rocks,  dis- 
persed at  random  through  the  loamy  base,  the  whole 
being  covered  with  loam  eight  feet  thick.  One  an- 
gular block  of  gneiss,  which  I  measured,  was  thirteen 
feet  long,  by  nine  in  breadth,  and  five  feet  high,  but 
masses  still  larger  have  been  met  with,  and  broken  up 
by  gunpowder.  Mr.  Redfield,  who  accompanied  me 
to  Brooklyn,  suggested  that  the  inferior  red  drift  may 
have  been  accumulated  first  when  the  red  sandstone  of 
the  neighbouring  country  was  denuded,  and  that  after- 
wards, when  the  land  was  submerged  to  a  greater  depth. 
and  when  the  gneiss  and  hypogene  mountains  of  tlie 
highlands  alone  protruded  above  the  waters,  the  upper 
drift  with  its  erratics  may  have  been  thrown  down.  I 
am  well  disposed  to  adopt  this  view,  because  it  coin- 
cides with  conclusions  to  which  I  was  led  by  indepen- 
dent evidence,  after  examining  the  districts  around 
Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  viz.  that  the  drift  was  de- 
posited during  the  successive  submergence  of  a  region 
which  had  been  previously  elevated  and  denuded,  and 
which  had  already  acquired  its  present  leading  geo- 
graphical features  and  superficial  configuration. 

At  South  Brooklyn,  I  saw  a  fine  example  of  strati- 
fied drift,  consisting  of  beds  of  clay,  sand,  and  gravel, 
which  were  contorted  and  folded  as  if  by  violent  lateral 
pressure,  while  beds  below  of  similar  composition,  and 
equally  flexible,  remained  horizontal.  These  appear- 
ances, which  exactly  agree  with  those  seen  in  the  drift 


8'   ^liil 


rift 


Chap.  xii. 


LONG    ISLAND   BOULDERS. 


191 


of  Scotland  or  the  North  of  Europe,  generally  accord 
well  with  the  theory  which  attributes  the  pressure  to 
the  stranding  of  ice  islands,  which,  when  they  run 
aground,  are  known  to  push  before  thein  large  mounds 
of  shingle  and  sand,  and  must  often  alter  greatly  the 
arrangement  of  strata  forming  the  upper  part  of  shoals, 
or  mud-banks  and  sand-banks  in  the  sea,  while  the 
inferior  portions  of  the  same  remain  unmoved. 

Mr.  Mather,  in  his  Report  on  the  geology  of  this 
portion  of  New  York,*  states  an  interesting  fact  in  re- 
gard to  the  arrangement  of  the  boulder  formation  on 
Long  Island,  W'hich,  as  before  m(  ntioned,  extends  for 
about  130  miles  east  and  west.  At  its  eastern  ex- 
tremity the  boulders  are  of  such  kinds  of  granite, 
gneiss,  mica,  slate,  greenstone,  and  syenite,  as  may 
have  come  across  the  Sound  from  parts  of  Rhode  Isl- 
and, immediately  to  the  nortli.  Farther  westward, 
opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut  River,  they  are 
of  such  varieties  of  gneiss  and  hornblende  slate  as  cor- 
respond with  the  rocks  of  the  region  through  which 
that  river  passes.  Still  farther  west,  or  opposite  New 
Haven,  they  consist  of  red  sandstone  and  conglomerate, 
and  the  trap  of  that  country  ;  and  lastly,  at  the  west- 
ern end,  adjoining  the  city  of  New  York,  w^e  find  ser- 
pentine, red  sandstone,  and  various  granitic  and  crys- 
talline rocks,  which  have  come  from  the  district  lying 
immediately  to  the  north.  This  distribution  of  the 
travelled  fragments  will  remind  every  geologist  of  the 
manner  in  which  distinct  sets  of  erratics  are  lodged  on 
the  Swiss  Jura,  each  set,  whether  of  granite,  marble, 
or  gneiss,  answering  in  composition  to  those  parts  of  the 
Alps  which  are  nearest  and  immediately  opposite,  as  if 

•  Report  for  1837,  p.  8S. 


liK^i: 


! 

I 

]} 

'1     1 

* 

I                 1 

( 

( 

( 

1  r; 

! 

!         1 

"  m 


«! 


i  ■' 

r 

i« 

i            • 

1 :.' 

'  '1- 

•><' 

,  i 

■  ii 

if 

I     :.f'j 

■mf'   '■-.: 


^m 


192 


NEW    YORK. 


Chap,  xh 


*,m-':  1 


tliey  liad  crossed  the  great  valley  of  Switzerland,  more 
tiian  fifty  jniJes  broad,  in  a  direction  at  right  angles  to 
ts  length.  The  Sound,  which  separates  Long  l^^iaiul 
from  the  main  land,  is  from  five  to  twenty-five  ntile? 
broad.  The  fragments  have  doubtless  been  trans- 
ported by  ice  ;  but  we  must  suppose  them  to  have  been 
floated  by  ice-islands  in  the  sea,  as  there  ore  no  high 
mountains  in  tiiis  part  of  North  America  from  which 
glaciers  can  iiave  descended  after  the  continent  had 
ac(|uired  nearly  iis  present  shape  and  altitude. 

We  spent  several  weeks  at  New  York,  and  soon 
found  ourselves  at  home  in  the  society  of  persons  to 
some  of  whom  we  had  letters  of  introduction  from  near 
relatives  in  England,  and  others  whom  we  had  met  at 
distant  places  in  the  course  of  our  tour.  So  many 
American  citizens  migrate  from  north  to  south  for  the 
saice  of  mild  winters,  or  attendance  on  Congiess,  or  the 
supreme  courts  of  law  at  Washington,  or  congregate 
in  large  watering  places  duriiig  the  summer,  or  liave 
children  or  brothers  settled  in  tlie  Far  West ;  every- 
where there  is  so  much  intercourse,  personal  or  episto- 
lary, between  scientific  and  literary  men  in  remote 
states,  who  have  often  received  their  nniversity  educa- 
tion far  from  home,  that  in  each  new  city  where  we 
sojourn  our  American  friends  and  acquaintances  seem 
to  know  something  of  each  other,  and  to  belong  to  the 
same  set  in  society.  The  territorial  extent  and  politi- 
cal independence  of  the  difierent  States  of  the  Union 
remind  the  traveller  rather  of  the  distinct  nations  of 
Eiuope  than  of  the  different  counties  of  a  single  kirg- 
dom  like  England  ;  but  the  population  has  spread  so 
fast  from  certain  centres,  especially  from  New  Engla.id, 
and  the  faciUties  of  communication  by  railway  and 


!! 


CiiAr.  XII. 


NEW    YORK. 


193 


ston!)i-boat  are  so  groal,  and  arc  alwaj's  improving  so 
nipi  !ly.  that  tlio  twcuty-.^ix  r('pnl)Iics  of  1842,  having 
a  [)i)|)nl.iti',)n  of  ^cveiitocn  millions,  are  more  united, 
;iiitl  hcloiiij;'  more  lliorouglily  to  one  nation,  than  did 
lli(!  thirlccn  States  in  177(),  when  their  numbers  were 
only  three  ]niUion?<.  In  spite  of  tlic  continued  decline 
of  the  federal  authorit\',  and  the  occasional  conflict  of 
toninjcrcial  interests  between  the  North  and  South, 
and  the  \iolent  passions  excited  by  the  anti-slavery 
niDVcnuMit,  the  old  colonial  prejudices  have  been  soften- 
ing down  from  year  to  year,  the  English  language, 
h\\^.  and  literature,  have  pervaded  more  and  more  the 
Dutch,  (Jerman,  and  French  settlements,  and  the 
danger  of  the  dismemberment  of  the  confederacy  ap- 
pears to  all  reflecting  politicians  less  imminent  now 
than  formerly. 

I  dined  with  Mr.  Astor,  now  far  advanced  in  years, 
whose  name  is  well  known  to  the  readers  of  Washing- 
ton Irving's  "  Astoria."  lie  informed  me  that  he  was 
about  to  found  a  large  public  library  in  New  York, 
wliich  I  rejoice  to  hear,  as  the  scientific  men  and  nat- 
uralists of  this  country  can  rarely  afford  to  purchase 
expensive  European  works  with  numerous  illustrations. 
I  often  regietted,  during  my  short  residence  here,  that 
the  town  of  A!l)'iny,  150  miles  distant,  is  destined,  be- 
caiise  ii  is  the  capital,  to  possess  the  splendid  collection 
of  minerals,  rocks,  and  fossils  obtained  during  the  late 
government  sm'vey.  The  surveyors  are  now  employed 
ill  arranging  these  treasures  in  a  nmseum,  which  would 
have  Itc'cn  far  more  useful  and  more  frequently  con- 
sulted if  placed  in  the  midst  of  this  wealthy  metropolis, 
having  a  j)opu!ation  of  300,000  souls.  Foreigners,  in- 
deed, who  have  only  visited  New  York  for  commercial 

17 


-1  i 

'ir-' 


il 


ij 


'  f 


fc'    . 


194 


VARIABLE    CLIMATE. 


Chap. 


XIL 


i; 


purposes,  may  imagine  that  all  the  inhabitants  are  ex- 
clusively engrossed  with  trade  and  money-njaking ; 
but  there  is  a  college  here,  and  many  large  and  nour- 
ishing literary  and  scientific  institutions.  I  received 
numerous  invitations  to  deliver  lectures  on  geology,  but 
had  scarcely  time  to  finish  one  short  course  wlieii  I 
was  reminded,  by  the  breaking  up  of  winter,  that  1 
could  resume  my  operations  in  the  field. 

It  was  now  the  second  week  of  April,  and  already 
the  willows  on  "  the  Battery"  were  putting  forth  their 
yellowish-green  leaves.  The  air  was  as  warm  as  in 
an  English  summer,  although  a  few  days  befoie  l!ie 
ground  had  been  covered  with  snow.  Such  sudden 
changes  are  trying  to  many  constitutions ;  and  we  are 
told  that  if  we  staid  a  second  year  in  the  United  States 
we  should  feel  the  influence  of  the  climate,  and  begin 
to  lose  that  freshness  of  colour  which  marks  the  newly- 
arrived  Englishman.  The  greater  sallowness  of  com- 
plexion here  is  attributed  to  the  want  of  humidity  in 
the  air ;  and  we  ought  to  congratulate  ourselves  that 
there  is  no  lack  of  that  ingredient  in  the  atmosphere  of 
Great  Britain.  We  continue  to  be  surprised  at  the 
clearness  of  the  skies,  and  the  number  of  fine  days  and 
bright  star-light  nights,  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

April  12,  1842. — Left  New  York,  and  ascended  the 
North  River  to  Hudson  City,  to  observe  there  the  tran- 
sition or  Silurian  slates  and  Hmestones.  Tliesc  rocks 
have  undergone  so  much  disturbance  that  I  was  un- 
able to  satisfy  myself — perhaps  from  want  of  more 
time  for  observation — whether  the  alleged  unconfoim- 
ability  of  the  fossiUferous  hmestone  to  the  bkick  slate 
is  real  or  only  apparent,  and  owing  to  shifts  in  the 
position  of  the  strata.    From  Hudson  City  I  followed 


m    li 


'fi ';:':?■ 


I;:! 


Chap.  xii. 


TACOXIC    GROUI'    OV    STRATA. 


105 


tlio  line  of  the  railway  hy  Chester  and  Wcstdeid,  over 
what  is  called  ihe  Tacoiiic  rji)L'"e  of  nioiiiitaiiis.  'I  iiry 
iiKiv  he  coiisideieil,  jxeaniviphicallv.  as  a  comimiMiiDii 
of  the  Green  Mountains  of  Veiinont  ;  and  they  do  n(.t 
dillcr  greatly  in  their  geological  structuie,  the  j)red(!ni- 
inant  rocks  being  gneiss,  mica  schist,  takose  slate,  and 
crystalline  limestone,  the  larger  portion  of  which  would 
in  the  ordinary  nomenclature  of  geology  he  called  pri- 
iiuiry.  They  have,  however,  been  termed  metamor- 
pliic,  because  in  some  of  the  associated  slates  traces  of 
fucoids  and  vermilorm  bodies,  called  Nereites,  have 
been  discovered.  Professors  Hitchcock  and  li.  L). 
Kogers  have  expressed  an  oj)inion,  which  nppeared  to 
ine  highly  probable  after  a  cursory  examination  of 
diese  hills,  tiiat  they  consist  of  altered  Silurian  strata. 
Dr.  Emmons,  on  the  other  hand,  contends  that  they 
are  more  ancient  than  the  lowest  sandstone  of  the  old- 
est fossiliferous  group  of  New  York, —  in  a  word,  that 
they  are  sedimentary  strata  of  an  era  anterior  to  the 
Silurian,  in  a  metamorphic  state.  The  order  of  ar- 
rangement of  the  masses,  their  mineral  constituents 
and  organic  remains,  are  appealed  to  in  support  of  this 
dicory  ;  and  several  sections  are  considered  as  proving 
that  the  most  ancient  sandstones  of  the  New  York 
series  rest  unconformably  on  the  rocks  in  question,  to 
which  Dr.  Emmons  gives  the  name  of  the  Taconic 
system.  But  the  fossils  are  so  few,  and  so  analogous 
either  to  species  found  in  the  Silurian  strata  in  the 
United  States  or  in  those  now  generally  referred,  like 
the  Nereites  (a  species  of  annehdes  ?),  to  the  inferior 
division  of  that  group  in  Great  Britain,  that  the  claim 
of  this  Taconic  group  to  an  independent  place  among 
die  paleozoic  formations  ssems  still  very  questionable. 


Irl 


19G 


PLUMnAGlNOUS    ANTHRACITE.  Chap,  xii 


r  m  w. 


1  went  aflcrwarcln  to  exaipino  the  mica  scliist  of 
Worcester,  in  Miissjacluisoils,  to  the  east  of  the  Tiico- 
nic  raw'Ki  aiul  of  the  Comieciicut  Kiver,  and  forty  li\t; 
nnlerf  d.ie  west  of  Boston.  1  fouml,  interstia tided  witli 
the  niif/  scliist  and  associated  clay-slate  of  this  place,  a 
regnlar  >ed  of  plumbaginous  anthracite,  or  inipuio 
graphite,  portions  of  winch  give  a  streak  on  paper  lilvo 
a  lead  pencil.  It  has  been  used  for  making  pencils, 
while  a  part  of  tlie  stratum  has  been  worked  for  coal, 
but  apparently  without  profit,  as  the  mine  is  now- 
abandoned.  The  mica  schist  contains  garnets  and 
asbestus,  and  is  nuich  impregnated  with  carbonaceous 
matter.  I  searched  in  yain  for  yegetable  inijiressioiis 
in  the  phmibaginous  anthracite,  which  was  in  part 
iridescent,  like  coal,  and  so  nuich  resenjbled  some  df 
the  carl  by  nnthracifes  which  1  soon  afterwards  saw  on 
ti:e  borders  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Inland,  at 
"Wr^'iithain,  (Cumberland,  Altleborough,  and  Mansfield, 
that  1  fi'ol  sironglv  inclined  to  believe  that  the  AVor- 
c'ster  be;]:-,  however  crystalliiie  they  may  be,  are  no 
ether  than  carboniferous  rocks  in  an  altered  or  mola- 
niorj)hic  state.  At  the  various  localities  last  men- 
tioned I  found  in  the  carbonaceous  slates  accompany- 
ing the  anthracite  the  most  common  coal  plants,  such 
as  Pecoptcris  pluinosa,  Neuropteris  flexuosa,  Spheiio- 
pbyllimj,  Calamites,  &c.  Although  the  associated 
strata  were  not  in  a  crystalline  condition,  they  and  tli'j 
coal  were  occasionally  traversed  with  veins  of  cpiartz, 
like  the  plumbaginous  bed  at  Worcester;  and  there 
are  many  |)Iaces  in  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts^, 
pointed  out  by  Dr.  C.  T.  .Tackson  and  Professor  Hitch- 
cock, in  which  the  carboniferous  and  old  red  sandstone 
rocks  pass  into  mica  schist,  and  other  hypogene  rocks, 


m 


I  '■•!■!: 


1^1 


CiiAr.  XII. 


ANTHRACITE    IN    MICA    SCHIST. 


19' 


c'pocinlly  in  tlio  neii?Ii))onihoo(l  of  nnsso^  of  nTanifn 
aii;l  syt.'iiitc.  In  sjiii'J  ca?^l^s  llit;  p-ltltlcs  of  ilic  coii- 
gloiiK.'rate  reiiiain  disiiiict,  wliile  llie  sli;ily  l);is(;  lias 
\)W\\  luriietl  into  a  well-cluuactcrised  mica  scliist,  of 
wliicli  1  obtained  specimens. 

1  have  already  mentioned  (p.  72.)  that  in  cros-siir^ 
from  the  west  of  tlie  Aile^Iiany  mountains  to  the  east- 
ern portion  of  the  Appalachian  coal-fu'ld  the  volatile 
ingredients  (oxygen,  hydrot^en,  and  nitrosfen)  of  the 
oii'^inal  coal  bear  continually  a  smaller  and  smaller 
proportion  to  the  carbon.  In  the  specimens  which  1 
myself  obtained  from  Pomeroy,  Ohio,  wiiere  the  coal 
is  bituminous,  and  where  the  strata  are  undisturbed, 
the  (juantity  of  gaseous  matter  has  beejj  found  l)y  my 
friend  Dr.  Percy  to  be  in  the  proportion  of  PJ  per  cent., 
tlie  rest  being  carbon  anil  ash.  2dly.  In  the  coal  at 
Frostburg,  in  Maryland,  in  the  midst  of  the  Alleghany 
chain,  where  the  strata  have  undergone  but  slight  dis- 
turbance, the  proportion  of  volatile  matter  was  found 
to  be  9^  pur  cent.  3dly.  In  the  Pennsylvanian  an- 
thracite of  the  Lehigh  and  Mauch  Chunk  mines, 
before  alluded  to  (p.  G9.),  the  volatile  ingredients  are 
about  5  per  cent.* 

In  the  plumbaginous  anthracite  of  Worcester  the 
jnoportion  of  volatile  matter  is  about  3  per  cent.,  there 
being  a  slight  trace  of  nitrogen.     I  conceive   that  a 

*  Tlipse  results  were  obtained  from  an  elaborate  analysis  made  for 
nif  by  tl'.e  kindness  of  Dr.  J.  Percy  of  Biriningbani,  sinoe  the  stute- 
inciit  fT.wu  at  p.  72.  was  printed.  They  bear  out  tlie  jreological  in- 
fci'Miees,  there  referred  to,  of  Professor  H.  D.  Uoirprs  ;  but  it  will  be 
^'011  ihat  t!ie  proportions  of  the  chemical  constituents  differ  greatly, 
the  }ra!>eoiis  matter  being  only  half  the  previously  estimated  qiiaulity. 
For  deiiiils  of  the  analysis  and  manipulations,  see  Appendix  to  a  papei 
by  the  author,  in  the  Journal  of  Geol.  See,  London,  No.  II.  1845. 

17* 


.*,•• 


t^'t 


lOS 


ANTITUAriTi:    IN    MICA    Sfllir^T.         CllAP.  xn 


V  L   ■fs 


^  I 


inoic  powerful  acfion  of  lliosc  same  plufoiiic  causes 
(liraf,  and  oilier  suljloiraneaii  a<,'"('Ucios)  wliitli  aic  cii- 
pablc  of  coiivrrtiii*^  scdiiiKMiJary  into  cryHlallinn  iocKn 
may  liave  (3.\'|)ell''(l  nearly  all  the  gaseous  inuncdiciits 
from  a  stratum  of  coal  or  anthracite,  and  turned  if  info 
an  impure  plumbago,  while  the  carboniferous  grit.s  and 
shales  wen;  changed  into  carbonaceous  mica-schist, 
clay-slate,  and  (piartzite.  At  Little  Falls,  on  the  ^lo- 
liawk  Hiver,  and  elsewhere  in  the  U.  S.,  and  at  the 
Falls  of  Montmorency,  and  other  places  in  ('anada,  I 
have  seen  the  lowest  Silurian  strata  resting  uncon- 
formal)Iy  on  gneiss  and  other  hypogene  formations, 
liut  we  ought  not  to  be  surprised  on  that  account,  if 
we  find  on  the  American  continent,  as  in  the  Swiss 
Alps  and  other  regions  in  Europe,  strata  containing 
plants  of  tlie  coal-measures,  or  of  still  newer  dates, 
which  have  acquired  the  hypogene  or  metamorpliic 
structure.  Near  the  Atlantic  border  of  the  United 
States,  in  particular,  we  should  be  prepared  for  such  a 
discovery,  for  we  know  tliat  those  powerful  movements 
which  have  given  rise  to  the  Appalachian  chain,  fold- 
ing and  dislocating  the  solid  rocks  for  a  breadth  of  150. 
and  a  length  of  more  than  1000  miles,  and  the  injec- 
tion into  the  eastern  portion  of  the  chain,  of  igneous 
rocks  of  the  trappean  and  plutonic  order,  arc  phenom- 
ena posterior  in  date  to  the  deposition  of  the  American 
carboniferous  strata.  During  so  long  a  series  of  sub- 
terranean changes  as  are  implied  by  these  disturbances 
it  may  well  have  happened  that  considerable  masses  of 
the  coal-bearing,  as  well  as  of  more  ancient  paleozoic 
strata,  should  have  assumed  a  crystalline  texture. 

At  a  small  New  England  town  in  the  Taconic  hilb 
above  mentioned  I  was  getting  some  travelling  in- 


began 


Ciur.  XII. 


LKCTUUKS    IN'    NKW    KNOLANU. 


190 


strnctions  nt  ihc  lv\r  of  an  inn,  wlion  a  carpenter  en- 
tered  who  had  ju-^t  iiiiidird  Ids  day's  svork,  and  asked 
what  It'cUire  would  bo  y[Yfon  that  evening'.  The  re- 
ply was*,  idr.  X.  on  ihu  Astiunoniy  of  tlie  Middle 
Ages.  lie  then  iunuired  if  il  was  gratis,  and  was  an- 
swered in  the  ne<i;uf/v''.  tlie  price  being"  twenty-five 
cents  (or  one  shilling  Efiglish) ;  upon  winch  he  said 
he  should  go,  and  accordingly  returned  home  to  dress. 
It  rellecis  no  small  credit  on  the  national  system  of 
education  in  New  England,  that  crowds  of  the  labour- 
ing classes  of  both  sexes  should  seek  recreation,  after 
the  toils  of  the  day  are  over,  in  listening  to  discourses 
of  this  kind.  Among  the  most  popular  subjects  of  lec- 
tures which  I  saw  announced  in  newspapers  or  pla- 
cards in  different  towns  and  villages  were  Temperance, 
a  cause  which  has  made  great  progress  of  late  years 
among  Protestants  as  well  as  CathoHcs,  and  which 
began  in  the  IJ.  S.  fifteen  years  before  the  correspond- 
ing movement  in  Great  Britain ;  Phrenology,  to  the 
pretensions  of  which  the  Americans  lend  too  credulous 
an  ear ;  the  History  of  the  American  Revolution  ;  the 
Present  State  and  Past  Historv  of  China  ;  Travels  in 
the  Holy  Land ;  Meteorology,  and  a  variety  of  other 
topics. 

April  15. — Visited  Professor  Hitchcock  at  Amherst 
College,  Massachusetts,  by  whom  the  geological  sur- 
vey of  that  State  has  been  ably  executed.  He  showed 
me  several  ridges  and  large  rounded  hillocks  of  trans- 
ported materials,  or  ''  drift,"  north  of  Amherst,  sur- 
rounding swamps,  in  precisely  the  same  manner  as 
those  usually  referred  to  tlie  glacial  period  in  Scotland 
and  Northern  Europe.  They  have  been  called  "mo- 
raines" by  some  geologists  ;  but  if  we  call  in  the  agency 


•1) 

I 

t 

''i 

1     -. 

!    I 

200 


FOSSIL    FOOTSTKPS    OF    nillDS. 


ri?AP.  xu 


fes 


w 


of  ice,  as  1  ;xin  well  ilisposed  to  do.  \vc  inii.-t  rdlrihute 
their  acciinHjlalion  to  tlie  ineltirig  of  iceUei^H  chai'Ted 
with  fragments  of  gravel  and  rock,  rather  than  lo  gla- 
ciers. Professor  liitchcock  has,  in  fact,  styled  them 
iceherg  moraines. 

At  Smith's  Ferry,  near  Northampton,  about  eleven 
miles  north  of  Sjningfield,  I  examined,  in  company 
with  the  Professor,  the  red  sandstone  oji  the  hanks  of 
the  Connecticut  River,  where  the  coIel)rated  foot-prints 
of  birds  are  beautifully  exhibited.  The  rock  consists 
of  thin-bedded  sandstone  (New  Ra},  Trias  1)  alterna- 
ting with  red  coloured  shale,  some  of  the  flags  being 
distinctly  ripple-marked.  Tlie  dip  of  the  layers,  on 
which  the  Ornithichnitcs  are  imprinted  in  great  abun- 
dance, varies  from  eleven  to  fifteen  degrees.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  in  this  place  many  superimposed  beds  nuist 
have  bee'x  successively  trodden  upon,  as  dill'erent  sets 
of  footsteps  are  traceable  through  a  thickness  of  sand- 
stone exceeding  ten  feet.  My  companion  also  pointed 
out  to  me  that  some  of  the  beds,  exposed  severtd  yards 
down  the  river,  and  containing  Ornithichnites,  would, 
if  prolonged,  pass  under  those  of  the  principal  locality, 
and  make  the  entire  thickness  throughout  which  liic 
hnpressions  prevail  at  intervals,  jierhaps,  twenty  or 
thirty  feet.  We  cannot,  tlierefore,  explain  these  phe- 
nomena simply  by  supposing  large  sheets  of  mud  to 
have  been  spread  out  by  the  tidal  waters,  as  may  be 
observed  on  the  broad  flats  bordering  the  Bay  of  Fun- 
dy.  These  last,  it  is  true,  as  will  be  shown  in  a  future 
chapter,  exhibit  the  recent  foot-prints  of  birds,  iji  mai;y 
successive  layers,  for  a  depth  of  two  or  three  inches  ; 
but  I  cannot  conceive  such  markings  to  extend  throu<rh 
a  thickness  of  twenty-five  feet  without  supposing  a 


Chap.  xii. 


FOSSIL    FOOTSTEPS    OF    niRDS. 


201 


subsidence  of  the  ij;round  to  have  taken  place  from  (imo 
to  time  during  llie  deposition  of  the  layers  on  wliich 
the  birds  walked.  Tlie  tracks  are  loo  well  delhied  and 
di^stinct  to  have  been  made  under  water:  ihcre  arc 
clear  indications  of  joints  in  tiic  dill'erent  toes  ;  and 
there  is  generally  s«ich  a  deviation  from  a  straight  line 
in  any  three  prints  fjllowing  each  otiier  as  is  observa- 
ble in  the  trilid  marks  winch  birds  leave  on  the  sands 
of  the  sea-coast.  The  birds  nui;^t  have  l;een  of  various 
sizes,  from  that  of  a  s  nail  sind-piper  to  bipeds  larger 
than  the  ostrich  ;  and  it  is  highly  inten  sting  to  rcmaik 
how  regularly  the  distance  between  the  footsteps  in- 
creases or  diminishes  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the 
foot-marks.  In  some  of  the  most  diminutive,  for  ex- 
ample, they  are  no  more  than  three  inches  apart,  but 
in  the  case  of  the  largest  [Ornil/iic/rni/cs  giffa.s)  they 
are  from  four  to  six  feet.  The  lengih  of  the  foot  in 
the  hnge  species  last  mentioned  is  in  sonK^  instances 
no  less  than  nineteen  inches.  Its  magnitude  being 
nearly  twofold  that  of  the  African  ostrich,  as  estimated 
by  the  foot  [e.v  pcda  Hercidein)^  and  the  acknowledged 
antiquity  of  the  rock,  disinclined  many  naturalists  to 
adopt  the  views  of  Professor  Hitchcock,  v.  lien  he  re- 
ferred the  markings  to  extinct  birds;  but  the  discovery 
of  the  bones  of  the  Moa  or  Dinornis  of  New  Zealand, 
described  by  Mr.  Owen,  proved  the  existence,  at  no 
remote  period,  of  feathered  bipeds  nearly  as  gigantic, 
and  reconciled  the  zoologist  at  least  to  the  credibility 
of  the  fact,  however  marvellous. 

The  waters  of  the  Connecticut  being  low,  I  had  an 
opportunity  of  seeing  a  ledge  of  r(Ak  of  red  shale  laid 
bare,  on  which  were  imprinted  a  single  line  of  nine 
footsteps  of  Ornithkhnites  gigantetis,  turning  aiter- 


;   ■■  :■'        m 


'']'.)■"■■    ^■ 


i:;i 

\ 

t     ' 

'  *      .     ^ 

•   ■   . 

\'\ 


202 


MOUNT    HOLYOKE. 


Chap. 


XII 


ill 
I 


nafely  right  and  left,  i  nd  separated  from  each  other 
by  intervals  of  about  five  feet.  At  one  spot  there  was 
a  space  several  yards  s(juarc,  where  the"  entire  surface 
of  the  shale  was  irregular  and  jagged,  owing  to  the 
number  of  footsteps,  not  one  of  which  could  be  traced 
distiiictly,  as  when  a  flock  of  sheep  have  passed  over  a 
niuidy  road  ;  but  on  withdrawing  from  this  area  the 
confusion  gradually  ceased,  and  the  tracks  became 
more  and  more  distinct.  The  Professor  informed  me, 
that  since  he  first  announced  his  belief,  in  1836,  that 
these  impressions  were  referable  to  birds,  he  had  ob- 
served above  two  thousand  foot-prints,  probably  made 
by  nearly  thirty  distinct  species,  all  indented  on  the 
upper  surface  of  the  strata,  and  only  exhibiting  casts 
in  relief  on  the  under  side  of  the  beds  resting  on  such 
indented  surfaces. 

This  sandstone  is  of  much  higher  antiquity  (see  p. 
125.)  than  any  formation  in  which  fossil  bones  or  other 
indications  of  birds  have  been  detected  in  Europe. 
Still  we  liave  no  ground  for  inferring  from  such  facts 
that  tlje  feathered  tribe  made  its  first  appearance  in 
the  western  hemisphere  at  this  period.  It  is  too  com- 
mon a  fallacy  to  fix  the  era  of  the  first  creation  of  each 
tribe  of  pkuits  or  animals,  and  even  of  animate  beings 
in  general,  at  the  precise  point  where  our  present  retro- 
spective knowledge  happens  to  stop.  The  discoveries 
in  the  Connecticut  valley  ought  to  teach  us  extreme  cau- 
tion in  deducing  general  conclusions  from  mere  negative 
evidence,  especially  when  we  infer  the  non-existence  of 
land  animals  from  the  absence  of  their  remains  in  con- 
temporaneous marine  strata. 

On  leaving  Amherst  for  Springfield,  we  ascended 
Mount  Holyoke,  the  lower  part  of  which  is  formed  of 


horizc 
cappei 
Tliis  J 
summ 
the  wi 
tiie  bh 
white 
several 
British 
Imrr 
(April  : 
o/f  the 
madi^ti 
jolted  ij 
an  exec 
fold  on 
so  that, 
on  '-ihi 
in  time 
miles  lo 
the  evei 
than  2( 
where 
coloure( 
white,  ) 
nite. 
Professc 
in  the 
ance,  tl 
here,  as| 
intellige 
of  a  mill 
from  3S: 


Chap.  xii.      GEOLOGY    OF   MARTHA  S    VINEYARD. 


203 


horizontal  strata  of  red  sandstone,  while  the  summit  is 
capped  witli  a  picturesque  mass  of  basaltic  greenstone. 
This  hill  has  been  isolated  by  denudation,  and  from  its 
summit  we  enjoyed  a  fine  view  of  the  fertile  plain  of 
the  winding  Connecticut,.  On  its  flanks  we  gathered 
tlie  blue  Hepatica  triloba,  the  Houstonia  cerulea,  a 
white  saxifrage,  the  May  flower.  Epigcsa  repens,  and 
several  plants,  which  have  been  recently  naturalised  in 
British  gardens. 

Immediately  after  my  arrival  at  Boston  I  set  out 
(April  19th)  to  explore  the  island  of  Martha's  Vineyard, 
off  the  south  coast  of  Massachusetts.     Travellers  who 
madi^this  excursion  a  few  years  ago  complain  of  being 
jolted  in  a  coach  over  deep  ruts  and  huge  stones :  now, 
an  excellent  railway  carried  me  rapidly  to  New  Bed- 
ford on  the  coast,  where  a  steam-boat  was  in  readiness. 
so  that,  having  started  long  after  sunrise,  I  was  landed 
on  '•  the  Vineyard,"  eighty  miles  distant  from  Boston, 
in  time  to  traverse  half  the  island,  which  is  about  20 
miles  long  from  east  to  west,  before  sunset.     Late  in 
the  evening  I  reached  the  lofty  clifis  of  Gayhead,  more 
than  200  feet  high,  at  the  western  end  of  the  island, 
where  the   highly-inclined   tertiary  strata   are   gaily 
coloured,  some  consisting  of  bright  red  clays,  others  of 
white,  yellow,  and  green  sand,  and  some  of  black  lig- 
nite.    They  have  been  compared,  not  unaptly,  by 
Professor  Hitchcock,  to  the  tertiary  beds  of  Alum  Bay 
in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  which  they  resemble  in  appear- 
ance, though  not  in  age.     I  collected   many  fossils 
here,  assisted  by  some  resident  Indians,  who  are  very 
inteUigent.     The  section  is  continuous  for  four  fifths 
of  a  mile,  the  beds  dipping  to  the  N.  E.  at  an  angle  of 
from  35^  to  50^^,  and  in  some  places  to  70^.    Their 


m 

1 

:1 


V 

'    .1.! 


m.. 


204        GEOLOGY    OF    MARTHA's    VINEYARD.      Chap,  xii 


entire  thickness  must  be  very  great,  exceeding  2000 
feet.  Tlie  clays  predominate  over  the  sands.  In  the 
black  beds  containing  lignites  coniferous  wood  is  abun- 
dant, and  amber  is  said  to  have  been  found.  The  or- 
ganic remains  prevail  at  intervals  in  various  strata,  but 
I  extracted  most  of  them  from  a  bed  of  green  sand  (/>), 

Fig.  6. 


N.E. 


S.W. 


Section  at  Oayhead. 

A.  Lighthouse.  h.  Groensnnd  with  sharks'  teeth. 

c.  Osseous  conglomerate  with  walrus.       d.  Drift. 

near  the  north-eastern  end.  They  consisted  of  casts? 
of  shells,  teeth  of  large  sharks,  the  vertebrae  of  a  dol- 
phin, and  of  a  whale  of  great  size.  1  also  discovered 
a  tooth  referred  by  Mr.  Owen  to  the  canine  tooth  of  a 
seal. 

Together  with  these,  I  found  numerous  nodules  of 
the  shape  of  kidney  potatoes,  from  one  to  two  inches 
in  diameter,  smooth  externally,  which  I  presume  to 
have  been  coprolites.  They  have  been  analysed  for 
me  by  my  friend  J.  Middleton,  fJsq.,  F.  G.  S.,  and 
found  to  contain  no  less  than  50  per  cent,  of  phosphate 
of  lime,  the  constitution  of  the  latter  being  such  as  is 
pecuhar  to  organic  substances.  They  also  consist  of 
fluoride  of  calcium,  chloride  of  sodium,  and  other  ele- 
ments. These  coprohtes,  therefore,  seem  closely  anal- 
ogous in  composition  as  in  age,  to  those  found  by 
Professor  Henslow  in  the  Suffolk  crag  of  Fehxstow, 
and  which  accompany  the  bones  of  sharks  and  cetacea. 

Near  the  hghthouse  there  is  a  great  fold  in  the 
beds,  where  they  are  so  bent  as  to  have  twice  a  north- 
easterly and  once  a  south-westerly  dip.    One  of  these 


Chap.  xii. 


FOSSIL    WALRUS. 


203 


folded  beds  (c)  consists  of  an  osseous  conglomerate,  in 
wliicli  I  found  several  rolled  cetaceous  remains  ;  and 
J  purchased  from  a  llslierman  residing  near  the  pro- 
montory a  fossil  skull,  which  lie  told  me  had  fallen 
out  of  this  conglomerate  upon  the  beach  below.  It 
retained  but  a  small  portion  of  the  original  animal 
niatter,  was  slightly  rolled,  and  Mr.  Owen  recognised 
it  as  the  cranium  of  a  Walrus,  or  ]\!orse,  nearly  allied 
to  the  existing  species  ( Trlcliecus  Ros?ttants,  Linn.). 
On  comparison,  it  was  observed  to  diiier  from  it,  in 
having  six  molar  teeth,  instead  of  f;;ur,  on  each  side 
of  the  upper  jaw.  There  are  eleven  specimens  of  the 
recent  species  in  the  College  of  Surgeons,  in  all  of 
which  there  are  no  more  than  lour  grinders  on  each 
side.  The  tusk,  also,  of  the  Gayhcad  fossil  has  a 
rounder  form  than  that  of  the  recent  Morse.  (See 
plate  Y.) 

Near  Chilmark,  on  the  S.W.  side  of  the  island,  I 
found  the  same  b(?ds  as  at  Ga3head,  in  a  still  more 
disturbed  state.  Upon  the  whole,  the  organic  remains, 
especially  the  sharks'  teeth,  lead  me  decidedly  to  the 
opinion  that  the  strata  belong  to  a  part  of  the  tertiary 
series  newer  tlian  the  Eocene,  to  wdiich  they  were 
formerly  referred.  They  must  be  at  least  as  mode  n 
as  the  Miocene  marls  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  bcl  e 
described  (p.  134).  Several  of  the  sharks'  teeth  .re 
specifically  identical  with  the  fossils  of  those  marls,  and 
of  the  Faluns  of  Touraine  and  the  Sullblk  crag;  and 
there  are  no  greensands  either  of  the  Eocene  or  cre- 
taceous periods  in  Martha's  Vineyard,  as  some  have 
conjectured.  These  conclusions,  in  regard  to  the  mod- 
ern date  of  this  formation,  are  interesting,  because,  but 
for  this  small  island,  we  should  have  had  no  evidence 

18 


Hi 

i     t    «| 
! 


•i5 


■Hi 


1    I    . 


i'f 


.  :  t 


i-''  r. 


^  h 


206 


Martha's  vineyard. 


Chap.  xn. 


of  the  development  of  a  great  series  of  subterranean 
movements  in  tliis  part  of  the  American  continent. 
The  disturbances  in  question  occurred  between  the 
Miocene  epoch  and  the  Boulder  period  ;  and  we  know 
not  how  far  their  influence  may  have  extended  over 
the  hypogene  rocks  of  New  England. 

The  tertiary  clays  and  sands  of  Martha's  Vineyard 
are  for  the  most  part  deeply  buried  beneath  a  mass  of 
drift  {d,  Fig.  0.),  in  which  lie  huge  erratic  blocks  of 
granite,  often  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  in  diameter, 
which  must  have  come  from  the  North,  probably  from 
the  mountahis  of  New  Hampshire.  This  covering  of 
granitic  detritus  imparts  to  the  soil  a  sterile  character 
totally  different  fiom  that  which  would  naturally  be- 
long to  the  tertiary  clays  and  marls. 

I  alluded  to  some  Indians  settled  near  Gayhead,  a 
remnant  of  the  aborigines,  who  have  been  protected 
by  the  Government  of  Massachusetts,  all  sales  of  land 
by  them  to  the  whites  being  null  and  void  by  law. 
They  make  excellent  sailors  in  the  whale-fishery  of 
the  South  Seas,  a  source  of  great  wealth  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  "  the  Vineyard,"  and  of  New  Bedford  on  the 
main  land.  That  occupation,  with  all  its  privations 
and  dangers,  seems  admirably  suited  to  the  bodily  con- 
stitution and  hereditary  instinct  of  a  hunter  tribe,  to 
whom  steady  and  continuous  labour  is  irksome  and 
injurious. 

The  history  of  the  extermination  of  the  aboriginal 
Indians  of  New  England  is  a  melancholy  tale,  especial- 
ly after  so  many  successful  exertions  had  been  made 
to  educate  and  christianize  them.  When  at  Harvard 
College,  a  copy  of  the  Bible  was  shown  me  by  Mr. 
Jared  Sparks,   translated  by  the  mispii-uH.y  Father 


Chat.  xii. 


INDIANS. 


207 


Elliott  into  the  Indian  tongue.  It  is  now  a  Jead  lan- 
guage, although  preached  for  several  generations  to 
crowded  congregations. 

On  my  return  across  the  Vineyard  from  Gay  head  I 
saw  several  spotted  tortoises  with  red  heads  migrating 
from  one  pond  of  fresh  water  to  another.  On  the  sea- 
shore another  novelty  attracted  my  notice — severa. 
large  specimens  of  the  King  Crab  ( Limidus  iwlyphe- 
mus)  were  crawling  about  in  the  salt-water  pools  left 
by  the  sea  on  the  retiring  of  the  tide. 


rm 

1 

1 

1'  ■     ■  -i  ^ 

■     i             i. 

.  1  1 

'  i  f 

ill  ii 

1 

I  I 


\\ 


208 


BOSTON. 


Ciur.  xin 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


M-flfing  nf  Association  of  American  Geologists  at  Boston. — Popnlin 
Lihniiies  in  New  Eiigl)ind, — Luge  Sale  of  Literary  Win  ks  ii 
the  United  States. — American  Unicersities. — Harvard  Citllcrc 
near  li.tstin. — English  Universities. — Pecaliarities  nj  their  Sijs 
tini. — Historical  Sketch  of  the  Causes  of  these  Peculiarities  not  nj 
Medieval  Origin. — Collegiate  Corporations. —  Their  altered  Rela- 
tion to  the  English  Universities  after  the  Reformat  ion. — ConslUn- 
Hon  given  tn  Oxford  hij  Leicester  and  Laud. — System  of  Puh.'ic 
Teaching,  how  superseded  hi/  the  Culleginte.  — Ejfeds  of  the 
Change. — Oxford  Examination  Statute  of  1800. — Its  subsequent 
Mid'ficiilion  and  Results, — Rise  of  Private  Tutors  at  Oxford  and 
Cambridge. — Consequences  of  this  Linovatian. — Struggle  at  Ox- 
ford in  ld3i)  to  restore  the  Professorial  System. — Causes  of  its 
Rejection. —  Tractarianism. — Supremacy  of  Eccleiiasfics. —  Y(,u  h- 
ful  Examiners. — Cambridge. — Ailvocacy  of  the  System  followed 
there. — Influence  of  the  English  Academical  Plan  on  the  Cultiva- 
tion of  the  Physical  Sciences,  and  all  Branches  of  Progressive 
Knowledge. — Remedies  and  Reforms. 


April  25. — I  returned  to  Boston  to  attend  the  third 
annual  meeting  of  the  Association  of  American  Geolo- 
gists, who  had  held  their  previous  meetings  of  1840 
and  1841  at  Philadelphia.  On  the  present  occasion 
Dr.  Morton  took  the  chair,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
week  papers  were  read  and  freely  discussed  on  a  va- 
riety of  scientific  questions  by  many  of  the  leading 
American  geologists,  some  of  whom  had  come  from 
distant  parts  of  the  Union.  The  patronage  afforded 
by  the  state  surveys  has  created  a  numerous  class  both 
of  practised  observers  and  able  writers.  Among  those 
engaged  ia  these  government  undertakings,  who  took 


Chap.  xiii. 


MEETING    OF    GEOLOGISTS. 


200 


pirt  in  these  proceedin;^s,  I  may  iniMUiDa  Professor 
ilitclicock,  ot"  31ussaclui-!i'lls,  Prules.sor  W .  U.  Rou'crs, 
of  Virginia,  Proft;t!sor  il.  D.  lvo;^ers,  oi'  Peiin^yivaiiia, 
Mr.  Vamixcin,  Dr.  Ejnmuiis,  Mr.  Hall,  ami  Dr.  Dvck 
— all  engaged  on  llie  survey  of  New  York  ;  Dr.  Jac.k- 
.son,  who  has  .surveyed  Rhode  Island,  Now  ITanipshire, 
and  Maine  ;  and  Dr.  Lo(;kc,  of  Oiiio.  There  wtM'e 
also  present.  Professor  Sillinian  and  his  son,  Messrs. 
Nicollet,  Redlicld,  Gould,  Bailey,  Dana,  Cout.hoiiy, 
Ualdenian,  lluhbard,  J.  L.  ilayes,  and  others,  all 
known  as  authors  or  contributors  to  scienfilic  publica- 
tions. The  structure  of  the  Alleghany  Hills,  and  of 
the  c;)al-rields  of  Anjerica,  ihe  origin  of  coral  reef<,  the 
glacial  theor}',  the  ell'ects  of  icei)ergs,  the  nature  of  t^e 
foot-marks  in  the  red  sandstone  of  Coimecticut  valley, 
and  other  subjects,  were  debated  upon  during  the  week, 
in  an  animated  but  most  amicable  style,  'j'he  citizens 
of  Boston,  learning  that  means  were  wanting  for  the 
publication  of  a  series  of  valuable  memoirs,  read  at 
this  and  former  meetings  of  the  association,  came  for- 
ward vv'ith  their  usual  liberality,  and  supplied  funds, 
by  aid  of  which  a  volume  entitled  '*  Transactions  of 
the  Association  of  xlmcrican  Geologists  for  1840-42,"  a 
work  reflecting  the  hiirhest  credit  on  the  cultivators  of 
geology  and  its  kindred  sciences  in  America,  made  its 
appearance  soon  afterwards. 

Munificent  bequests  and  donations  for  public  pur- 
poses, whether  charitable  or  educational,  form  a  stri- 
king feature  in  the  modern  history  of  the  United  States, 
and  especially  of  New  England.  Not  only  is  it  com- 
mon for  rich  capitalists  to  leave  by  will  a  portion  of 
their  fortune  towards  tlie  endowment  of  national  in- 
stitutions, but  individuals  during  their  lifetime  make 

IS* 


p 

"1 

i         !•' 

i 

1     .             ,    ■» 

t    .( 

u'l! 


t    ■■■ 


I'liii 


210 


SALE    OF    BOOKS. 


Chap,  xm 


J,*.  *■ 


magnificent  granls  of  money  for  the  same  objects. 
I'liere  is  here  no  coiii|)ul>(>ry  l;<w  for  tlie  equal  parti- 
tion of  property  amoni*'  ciiiUhen,  as  in  France,  and,  un 
tlie  other  hand,  no  custom  of  entail  or  priinojreniiure, 
as  in  England,  ^o  that  the  a/Ilucnt  feel  themselves  at 
liberty  (o  share  their  wealtli  between  their  kiniired  and 
the  puhlic ;  it  hcMug  iinj)ossil)le  to  found  a  family,  and 
pareiitti  having  fie(|uently  the  happinessj!  of  seeing  ;,11 
their  children  well  provided  for  and  independent  long 
before  (heir  death.  I  have  seen  a  list  of  bequests  and 
donations  made  during  the  last  thirty  years,  for  ihc 
benefit  of  religious,  charitable,  and  literary  institutions, 
in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  alone,  and  they  amounted 
to%o  less  a  sum  than  six  millions  of  dollars,  or  more 
than  a  milhon  sterling. 

There  are  popular  libraries  in  almost  every  village 
of  iVIassachusetts,  and  a  growing  taste  for  the  reading 
of  good  books  is  attesfed  by  the  sale  of  large  editions 
of  such  works  as  Herschel's  Natural  Philosophy,  Wash- 
ington Irving's  Columbus,  and  Plutarch's  Lives.  Of 
each  of  these,  from  five  to  twerty  thousand  copies  have 
been  sold.  It  will  seem  still  more  remarkable,  that  no 
less  than  sixteen  thousand  copies  have  been  purchased 
of  Johnos's  Translation  of  Froissart's  Chronicles,  il- 
lustrated by  wood-engravings,  and  twelve  thousand  of 
Liebig's  Animal  Chemistry.  These  editions  were  very 
cheap,  as  there  w^as  no  author's  copyright;  but  it  is 
still  more  surprising,  that  about  four  thousand  copies 
of  Prescott's  Mexico  should  have  been  sold  in  cne  year 
in  the  U.  S.  at  the  price  of  six  dollars,  or  about  twenty- 
six  shillings.  When,  in  addition  to  these  signs  of  the 
times,  we  remember  the  grants  before  alluded  to,  of  the 
New  Ijngland  and   other  states  in  behalf  of  public 


'Ii 


y- 

he 
he 
)lic 


Chap.  xiii. 


AMKRICAN    UNIVERSITIES. 


211 


schools  and  scientific  siirvTy.*!,  we  nny  imhilgc  very 
sanguine  hopes  of  tiie  future  progress  of  liiis  country 
towards  a  iiigh  stundard  of  jj^eneral  civilization. 

The  universities  of  the  United  States  are  annually 
increasing-  in  number,  and  their  discipline  in  New 
England  (to  which  my  inquiries  on  this  head  were 
chielly  confined)  is  very  strict;  a  full  stalfof  profes- 
sors, with  their  assistants  or  tutors,  superintending  at 
once  the  myral  conduct  and  intellectual  cult  tire  of  the 
students.  In  each  univeisiiv,  there  is  a  divinity-school, 
appropriated  to  some  particular  religious  denomination, 
which  is  Preshytcrian  or  Indej)endent  at  New  Haven, 
in  Connecticut,  where  there  Lire  about  six  hundred 
students ;  and  Unitarian  at  Harvard  College,  near 
Boston,  where  there  are  about  four  hundred.  But 
youths  belonging  to  various  sects  resort  indillerently  to 
New  Haven,  Harvard,  and  other  colleges,  to  pursue 
their  ordinary  academical  studies.  After  obtaining 
their  first  degree,  they  enter,  if  intended  for  the  min- 
istry, some  theological  faculty  established  in  the  same 
or  in  another  university,  or  constituting  a  separate  in- 
stitution for  the  professional  training  of  future  divines. 
The  Episcopalians  have  a  flourishing  college  of  this 
kind  in  the  State  of  New'  York.  The  Independents, 
or  Congregationalists,  have  one  at  Andover  in  Massa- 
chusetts, where  a  distinguished  professor  of  biblical 
learning  has  been  known  to  draw  Episcopalians  and 
students  of  other  sects  to  his  lectures,  no  persons  being 
excluded,  by  subscription  to  articles  of  religion,  from 
entering  and  studying  in  any  college. 

The  multiplication  of  academical  establishments,  in 
consequence  of  every  State,  and  every  sect  of  Chris- 
lians  in  each  State,  being  ambitious  of  having  schools 


.1 


«t 


H'' 


212 


UNIVERSITIES    IN    SCOTLAND.         Cit.\p.  xia 


A'. 


of  (Iicir  <nvn,  is  an  rvil,  but  vwv  wliicli  wcnld  l;r  uip;i(ly 
ajif^ravalrd  wcie  llic  ^cncial  r.s  well  as  llic  llicolorual 
educalii.n  iit  the  uiiivtrsitics  alike  scciarian  ;  cr  il  stii- 
diMils  of  classiial  liloiaUuv,  inalhcmalics,  law,  and 
mcdk-iiie,  all  rctiidred  teachers  who  aj^iccd  with  llicni 
in  every  article  ol'  faith.  It  has  been  remarked,  l;y  a 
liviiiLC  satirist,  that  the  force  of  sectarian  aniniosiiy, 
like  tluU,  of  gravity,  increases  inversely  asi  the  s(|uare>) 
of  the  dislanc«; ;  but,  in  spite  of  the  occasional  elmili- 
tion  in  recent  times  of  an  intolerant  spirit  on  both  sides 
of  the  Atlantic,  there  ar(!  many  auspicious  sii^ns  of  the 
ap|)roach  of  an  era  when  dillerences  of  religious  opinion 
will  less  interfere  with  national  systems  of  education, 
botli  in  scho(»]s  and  colleges.  The  present  state  of 
academical  allairs  in  ►Scotland  will  perhaps  be  thought 
inconsistent  with  tliis  view,  where  one  parly  has  been 
endeavouring  to  expel  from  the  universities  all  profes- 
sors who  favour  "  free  church"  opinions,  while  the 
seccders  from  the  establishment,  not  satisfied  with  a 
new  divinity-school,  have  aimed  at  a  new  univer-^ity 
for  general  instruction.  There  is  now  reason,  how- 
ever, to  iiope  that  the  last-mentioned  project  will  fail. 
There  are  already  too  many  academical  institutions  in 
Scotland,  in  proportion  to  the  means  of  adequately  re- 
munerating the  professors  ;  and  their  farther  impover- 
ishment, by  the  withdrawal  of  students  from  them  to 
a  new  college,  would  be  an  injury  to  science  and  civil- 
isation. The  policy  of  the  govermnent  in  IS35,  when 
an  attempt  was  made  to  unite  King's  and  Marischal 
Colleges  at  Aberdeen,  was  wise  and  statesmanlike,  but 
it  was  baffled  by  the  local  jealousies  of  the  two  ancient 
rivals.  Every  effort  should  now  be  made  to  confine 
the  new  academical  foundation  to  the  faculty  of  theol- 


mih 


Cnxr.  xiif. 


SKCTARIAN    SPITIIT. 


213 


r,i 


oj?y  ;  <^n(1,  for  the  same  renson,  to  prevent  the  estahlish- 
lueiit  of  rival  parochial  scIiojIs,  for  the  existin;:^  parish 
sch(K)Is  are  often  at  present  ina(le(|nately  supported.  It 
irf  deplorable  enough  to  be  conipellcd  to  admit  the  ne- 
cessity of  any  new  academical  esiablishment,  when  wo 
reflect  that  there  is  absolutely  no  difference  of  doctrine 
between  the  new  rival  churches  in  IScoiland  ;  and  that 
the  points  of  dissent  have  been  deemed  for  a  century 
and  a  half  of  such  subordinate  importance,  as  not  to 
atTord  justifiable  n^rounds  for  an  open  bre.ich.  In  the 
Irish  Colletre  at  Belfast,  endowed  by  governmenl.  a 
professor  of  Greek  of  acknowledged  ability,  nomi..;i(ed 
originally  by  the  crown,  with  the  approbation  of  the 
Presbyterians,  has  suddenly  been  deprived  of  the  greater 
part  of  his  class  in  conserjuence  of  the  "free  church" 
movement,  although  no  blame  is  imputed  to  him  on 
the  score  of  a  proselytising  spirit,  or  of  a  wish  to  incul- 
cate his  own  religious  views.  In  the  midst  of  these 
and  otber  discouraging  circumstances,  it  is  satisfactory 
to  observe,  that  three  out  of  the  five  Scotch  universities 
have  recently  declared  to  Parlianient  tlicir  desire  that 
the  religious  tests  which  now  shackle  tluni  and  impair 
their  ctVicacy  may  be  removed. 

In  no  subject  do  the  Americans  display  more  earnest- 
ness than  in  their  desire  to  improve  their  system  of 
education,  both  elementary  and  academical.  They 
have  sent  missionaries  to  FiUrope,  who  have  published 
elaborate  reports  on  the  methods  of  teaching  now  em- 
ployed in  Britain,  Germatiy,  Holland,  and  l''rancf»,  and 
they  seem  ready  to  adopt  whatever  appears  worthy  of 
imitation  in  these  diflerent  njoilels.  The  great  (IKfi- 
cuity  under  which  they  labour,  and  one  inevilable  in  a 
new  country,  and  common  to  them  and  the  British 


>! 


1  t'i 


u 


I,: 


214 


HARVARD    COLLEGE. 


Chap. 


xiu 


■V    * 


Americani  colonies,  is  the  early  age  at  which  young 
men  quit  college,  sooner  by  at  least  two  years  than  in 
England. 

In  Harvard  College,  Cambridge,  near  Boston,  the 
best  endowed  university  in  the  United  States,  there 
are  thirty-two  professors,  each  assisted  by  one  or  more 
tutors.  Many  of  them  are  well  known  in  the  literary 
world  as  aufhors.  F'ivc  only  of  the  thirty-two  were 
educated  for  the  pulpit,  three  of  whom  are  professors 
of  divinity,  one  of  ethics,  and  one  of  history.  All  the 
students  are  ie(juircd  to  attend  divine  service  in  the 
churches  to  which  they  severally  belong,  but  the  divin- 
ity-school for  professional  education  i  Unitarian.  The 
pupils  are  examined  in  the  New  Testament,  also  in 
Paley's  '•  Evidences,"  and  Butler's  "  Analogy."  The 
proportion  of  professors  to  students  (about  400  in  num- 
ber) is  far  greater  than  that  of  college  tutors  in  the 
English  universities.  The  tutors  of  Harvard  CoUofxe 
maybe  compared,  in  some  degree,  to  our  private  tutors, 
except  that  they  are  more  under  the  direction  of  the 
professors,  being  selected  by  them  from  among  the 
graduates,  as  the  best  scholars,  and  each  is  specially 
devoted  to  some  one  department  of  learning.  These 
tutors,  from  whose  number  the  professors  are  very 
commonly  chosen,  usually  teach  the  freshmen,  or  first- 
year  students,  or  prepare  pupils  for  the  professors'  lec- 
tures. Care  is  also  bestowed  on  the  classification  of 
the  young  men,  according  to  their  acquirements,  tal- 
ents, and  tastes.  To  accomplish  this  object,  the  stu- 
dent, on  entering,  may  offer  to  undergo  an  examina- 
tion, and,  if  he  succeeds,  he  may  pass  at  once  into  the 
second,  third,  or  fourth  year's  class,  the  intermediate 
steps  being  dispensed  with  ;  he  may  also  choose  cer- 


'"     i 


w 


Chat.  xiii. 


ENGLISH    UNIVERSITIE'J. 


215 


1  tJl 


lain  subjects  of  study,  which  are  regarded  as  equiva- 
lents, or  are  excliangeable  with  otliers.  Thus,  in  the 
four  years  of  the  regular  academical  course,  a  conipe- 
lent  knowledge  of  Latin,  Greek,  and  of  various  branches 
of  mathematics,  is  exacted  from  all ;  butj  in  regard  to 
other  subjects,  such  as  moral  philosophy,  modern  lan- 
guages, chemistry,  mineralogy,  and  geology,  some  of 
them  may  be  substituted  for  others,  at  the  option  of 
the  pupil.  There  are  public  examinations  at  the  end 
of  every  term  for  awarding  honours  or  ascertaining  the 
proficiency  of  students  ;  who,  if  they  have  been  neg- 
ligent, or  put  back  into  a  previous  year's  class,  the 
period  of  taking  their  degree  being  in  that  case  de- 
feried.  Honours  are  obtainable  for  almost  every  sub- 
ject taught  by  any  profesbor  ;  but  cnudation  is  not 
relied  upon  as  the  chief  inducement  for  study.  After 
passing  an  examination  for  the  fourth  year's  class,  the 
student<an  obtain  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  and 
may  enter  the  divinity,  medical,  or  law  schools. 

Every  inquiry  into  the  present  state  of  the  univer- 
sities in  America  drew  forth  from  my  infoininnts,  in 
return,  many  questions  respecting  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge. I  was  asked  by  professors  of  geology,  chemis- 
try, modern  history,  modern  literature,  and  other 
branches  of  knowledge,  why  the  classes  for  these  sub- 
jects had  recently  fallen  oil' in  the  English  universities? 
was  their  decline  to  be  ascribed  to  tractarianism,  a  form 
of  religious  doctrine  which,  they  said,  hiid  been  recently 
transplanted  into  the  United  States,  and  v/as  growing 
vigorously  in  the  new  soil  ?  I  decbrcd  my  conviction 
that  the  tractarian  movement  at  Oxford  had  been 
rather  one  of  the  eirects  of  tb.c  slow  and  gradual 
changes  introduced  in  modern  times  into  the  system  of 


:i ; 


>  .! 


216 


ENGLISH    CNIVERSITIES. 


CnAr.  xiii 


»: 


instrucfion  there,  than  tlie  cause  of  tlic  recent  bani^n- 
nient  from  that  seat  of  learning'  of  many  sciences  lor- 
mcrly  tauijfht  tlicre.  M'he  more  I  emleavonretl  to  ex- 
plain the  present  state  of  our  academical  course  of  study, 
and  tlie  peculiar  organisation  of  the  corps  of  teachers  lo 
wlioni  its  superintendence  is  confided,  the  more  strange 
it  appeared  to  my  New  England  friends  ;  and  I  myself 
became  the  more  aware  of  its  distinctive  and  anon)alous 
characler,  when  contrasted  with  the  methods  followed 
elsewhere.  Many  who  liave  been  educated,  like  my- 
self, at  Oxford,  are  ignorant  of  the  system  of  education 
formerly  acted  upon  in  our  English  universities,  and  of 
the  real  natuie  or  causes  of  the  present  state  of  things. 
I  shall,  therefore,  attempt  to  give,  in  the  remainder  of 
this  chapter,  a  brief  account  of  the  leading  peculiarities 
of  our  former  and  present  academical  machinery,  and 
to  point  out  its  inevitable  consequence,  the  very  limited 
range  of  studies  which  can  be  pursued,  so  long  as 
things  remain  unaltered.  I  shall  do  this  the  more 
willingly,  because  I  know  that  any  information  which 
may  throw  light  on  the  subject  will  be  equally  interest- 
ing to  my  readers  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 

It  may  awake:i  curiosity  in  those  who  have  never 
made  any  in(]uiries  into  these  matters,  if  I  make  one 
or  two  preliminary  statements.  In  the  first  place, 
then,  tlie  mass  of  students  or  undergraduates  at  Oxford 
is  divided  into  twenty-foiu*  separate  comnumities  or 
colleges,  very  unequal  in  number,  the  residents  in  each 
varying  from  10  in  the  smaller  to  about  110  in  the 
larger  colleges,  and  the  whole  business  of  educating 
these  separate  sections  of  the  youth  is  restricted  to  the 
tutors  of  the  separate  colleges.  Consequently,  two  or 
three  individuals,  and  occasionally  a  single  instructor, 


ClIAP.    XIII. 


ENGLISH    UNIVERSITIES. 


217 


may  be  called  upon  to  give  lectures  in  all  the  depart- 
menliS  ()\  hunnu  knowledge  eml'i* u-ed  in  the  academ- 
ical course  of  lour  yeaiv.     If  the  college  be  small,  there 
is  only  occupulion  and  salary  sullicient  to  support  one 
tutor ;  any  attempt,  therefore,  to  subdivide  the  dillerent 
branches  of  learninfj  and  sciences  amonsr  distinct  teach- 
ers  is  abandoned.     There  is   no  opportunity  for  one 
man  to  concentrate  the  powers  of  his  mind  on  a  single 
depart mc.ut  of  learning,  to  endeavour  to  enlarge  its 
bounds,  and  carefully  to  form  and  direct  the  opinions 
of  his  pupil.     In  a  few  of  the  larger  colleges,  indeed, 
some  rude  approach  to  such  a  partition  is  made,  so  far 
as  to  sever  tlse  mathematical  from  the  classical  studies ; 
but  even  then  the  tutors  in  each  division,  are  often 
called  upon,  in  the  public  examinations,  to  play  their 
part  in  both  departments.     Thus,  a  single  instructor 
gives  lectures  or  examines  in  the  writings  of  the  Greek 
and   Roman   historians,    philosophers,    and   poets,   to- 
trether  with  logic,  the  elements  of  mathematics,  and 
theology. 

For  the  benefit  of  my  foreign  readers,  it  may  be  as 
well  to  remark  that  the  scholars  to  be  taught  are  nut 
boys  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  eighteen,  at 
which  latter  age  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  was 
vcr)  commonly  conferrel  in  the  olden  times  at  Oxford, 
but  young  men  between  eighteen  and  twenty-two, 
who.  at  the  expiration  of  their  academical  course, 
u.uially  quit  college,  and  enter  at  once  upon  a  profes- 
sion, or  into  political  life.  In  the  next  place,  I  may 
slate,  that  the  choice  of  teachers,  to  whom  so  arduous 
and  ambitious  a  task  is  allotted,  is  by  no  means  left 
o{.»en  to  free  competition,  like  the  professorships  in  most 
aiicient  and  modern  universities ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 

19 


i' 

i 

1 

1 

!'    ' 

1  :i 

i                   f 

'   ■        .5 

% 


t 

♦.'■■  "- 

4 


mu^ 


218 


ENGLISH    UNIVERSITIES. 


Chap,  xiii 


m 


is  confined  within  very  narrow  bojnds.  The  collcfre 
tutors  are  selected  from  graduates  who  are  on  the  foun- 
dation of  their  respective  colleges,  and  who  may  have 
obtained  their  appointment  originally,  some  because 
they  happened  to  be  founder's  kin,  or  were  educated  at 
a  particular  school,  others  because  they  were  born  in  a 
particular  town,  county,  or  diocese  ;  a  few  only  being 
selected  from  merit,  or  as  having  distinguished  them- 
selves in  examinations  open  to  all  candidates.  Tliis 
latter  class,  however,  has,  it  is  true,  increased  of  late 
years.  Most  of  these  teachers  forfeit  their  fellowships, 
and  most  probably  with  it  their  office  of  tutor,  if  tliey 
should  marry,  or  if,  after  a  certain  number  of  years. 
they  do  not  embrace  the  clerical  profession.  They 
also  look  to  preferment  in  the  Chinch,  from  their  posi 
tion  in  their  college,  so  that  they  have  every  induce- 
ment to  regard  the  business  of  teaching  as  a  temporary 
calling,  subordinate  and  subsidiary  to  aiiotlier,  of  a  dif- 
ferent, and  t»  tihem  more  advantageous  and  important, 
kind.  Their  office  as  instructors  is,  in  short,  a  mere 
stepping-stone  to  something  else ;  and  they  hope  to 
gain  their  reward,  not  when  they  are  superannuated, 
for  then  they  would  be  unfit  for  highly  responsible 
ecclesiastical  duties,  but  when  they  are  still  in  the 
prime  of  life.  In  fact,  their  promotion  is  so  contrived, 
as  at  once  to  cut  short  the  career  of  usefulness  in  which 
they  may  have  hitherto  distinguished  themselves. 

It  will  naturally  be  taken  for  granted,  by  those  wlio 
have  never  investigated  the  history  of  the  universities, 
that  the  restrictions  and  fetters  above  enumerated  are 
all  of  monastic  and  medieval  origin.  The  celibacy  of 
the  teachers,  the  almost  entire  monopoly  of  tuition  by 
the  clergy,  seem  clearly  to  point  to  a  period  more  re- 


il. 


mt 


a.?  J 'I .«' 


Chat.  xiii. 


COLLEGIATE    CORPORATIONS. 


210 


mote  than  tlie  Reformation,  and  wlicn  tlio  suj)iemacy 
anil  oxorliitaut  power  ol  tlie  cluirch  of  lionu;  were  still 
at  their  heiifht.  LJut  nolhin<f  can  le  fartlier  tVoiu  the 
truth.  On  incioiry,  we  learn  with  Kurprij<e,  that  tiic 
original  plan  of  education  at  Oxford  and  Canihridge, 
as  in  the  other  European  universities,  was  public  and 
connnon  to  the  whole  mass  of  students.  The  present 
system  has  been  upheld  by  no  blind  veneration  for  an- 
cient usages,  nor  by  the  conservative  principle  CLuriod 
to  excess.  There  has  been  no  dread  of  innovation  ex- 
hibited in  modern  times.  The  substitution  of  the  cul- 
kgiate  for  a  more  general  university  scheme  of  instruc- 
tion is  the  result  of  a  moilern  revolution,  altogether 
subsequent  to  the  era  of  the  Reformation,  and  no  small 
part  of  it  is  a  creation  of  yesterday,  devised  at  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth,  and  only  carried  out  since  the  com- 
mencement of  the  nineteenth,  century. 

In  order  to  understand  how  the  colleges,  or  a  few 
private  corporations,  obtained  their  nsrendency  over 
our  two  great  national  institutions,  it  is  necessnry  to 
revert  to  the  history  of  those  carlv  aoes  when  the 
European  universities  originated.  It  appears  that 
there  was  often  a  prodigious  concourse  of  students  to 
those  seats  of  learning  where  the  public  teachers  ac- 
quired celebrity.  ^\  e  may  refuse  to  credit  some  old 
chroniclers,  who  reckon  the  number  at  Oxford  and 
elsewhere  at  ten,  twenty,  and  even  thirty  thousand  ; 
but  it  is  certain  that  the  scholars  were  often  so  crowded 
together  in  small  towns,  as  to  be  exposed  to  great  hard- 
ships, owing  to  the  exorbitant  price  demanded  forbonrd 
an:l  lodging.  Benevolent  individuals,  who  ccmniis- 
eroted  the  sullerings  of  the  poorer  students,  were  in- 
duced from  time  to  time  to  foimd  houses,  where  they 


.!  ; 


220 


COLLEOIATE    CORPORATIONS. 


Chap. 


XHI. 


'l;'t  i  "S" 

my 
u 


iniglit  obtain  acrommrKlation,  ami  sometimes  board, 
free  of  cxj.eiise.  Tho^e  w lio  were  not  on  sucb  fotiii- 
dations  were  re(|nir(';l,  wliotlier  graduates  or  uiulcr- 
gra(biater5,  to  belong-  to  some  Hall,  or  Inn.  tlie  head  of 
wbicli  was  usually  elected  by  the  scholars,  and  ap- 
proved of  by  the  chancellor  of  the  university,  or  his 
deputy.  As  a  large  part  of  the  students  were  boys, 
corresponding  in  age  to  those  now  educated  at  our 
public  schools,  they  were  placed  under  the  special 
guardianship  of  some  tutor,  who  ^V' as  expected  to  lofik 
to  their  orderly  behaviour,  their  religious  exercises,  and 
even,  as  appears  by  the  old  statutes,  to  "  see  that  they 
conformed  to  academical  rules  in  regard  to  matters  of 
external  appearance,  such  as  their  clothes,  boots,  and 
hair."  It  was  the  duty  of  the  head  of  each  house  to 
see  that  the  tutors  were  (it  for  their  olfice,  and  to  take 
care  I  hat  the  pupils  attended  the  lectures  of  the  ])ifhHc 
readers,  or  Masters  of  Arts,  who  gave  lectures  in  the 
Schools, 

On  the  Continent,  the  houses  founded  for  the  sup- 
port of  indigent  teachers  and  scholars  were  entirely 
subjecteLl  to  the  authorities  of  their  respective  univer- 
sities; but  in  England  several  of  the  colleges  were 
governed  by  private  t-tatutes,  over  which  the  university 
exercise  1  i.o  control.  Hence  they  had  often  interests 
apart  from  tiiose  of  the  university  and  of  the  public: 
but  for  centuries  thev  were  few  in  number,  there  beinsf 
only  three  colleges  in  Oxford  in  the  fourteenth  century; 
wliereas  there  were  three  hundred  halls,  or  licensed 
boarding-h  Duses,  each  sustained  by  the  privaie  contri- 
butions of  students.  At  leninh  the  Reformation  workers 
suddenly  a  complete  revolution  in  the  relative  position 
of  the  collegiate  corporations  and  the  academical  body 


Chap   xiii.         COLLEGIATE    CORPORATIONS. 


221 


'i! 


I  »i 


at  large.     Tlie  religious  schism  banisliosl  niniiy  stu- 
ilonls  who  (liJ  lu^t,  actiiiience  in  the  new  opinions.    Tlie 
temper  oi"  Henry   liie   Cigiith  was  so  capiicious  i.nd 
uncerlain,  and  the  policy  of  his  three  innnecHate  snc- 
ce-sors  so  cojilradictory,  iliat  it  was  diliicult  to  luiow 
w  liat  was  the  religion  by  law  established  for  the  cur- 
rent year  ;  still  less  possible  to  calcidate  what  would 
be    the    statutable   orthodoxy    for    the    year    ensuinsi. 
Keasonable    fears  wnne  also  entertained   that,   as  the 
niDuastic  property  had  been  confiscated,   the   endow- 
ments of  the  universities  might  not  long  be  spared,  so 
that  literature  and  the  ciiurch  were  uninviiing  profcs- 
&ions,    whether  for  ambitious   or  conscientious   men.* 
The  halls,  depending  for  their  support  on  the  conflu- 
ence of  students,  were  ruined,   except  a    few    which 
vcre    cormected   with    certain   colleges.      Ijand   and 
houses  fell  in  value  in  Oxford,  so  that  the  colleges  were 
able   to  purchase  considerable  property    from  the  im- 
poverished burghers  for  a  trifling  consideration.     Four 
new^  colleges  were  established  within  half  a  century 
subsequent   to    the    Keformation,    and    altogether   six 
(luring  the   sixti^enth    century,  some  of  which    were 
built  on  tlie  sites  of  supj)ressed  monasteries,  or  on  land 
obtained  by  grants  from  the  crown,  or  purciiased  for 
an  insignificant  price.     After  this  period,  only  one  col- 
l(';4e  was   founded — in  1610  ;  and  three  of  the   eight 
remaining  halls  changed  into  colleges,  in  1610,  17C2, 
and  1740. 


'K 


% 


*  For  many  details  respecting  the  early  constitution  of  the  nniver- 
pitif'sof  Puric  and  Oxford,  and  tlie  subsequent  clianjres  in  the  English 
Uiiivirsitics,  s»e  an  article  by  Sir  William  Hamilton,  Burt.,  wiio  wag 
ediicattd  at  Oxford,  and  is  now  Professor  of  Logic  in  the  University 
of  Edinburgh.  Edin.  Review,  No.  xcvi.,  June,  1831. 

19* 


222 


IIISTOIIY    OF 


Chap,  xiii 


Oii;Tinally  few  of  the  colleges  admitted  iindcrgradu. 
at<'s  not,  OM  tlie  foundation  ;  but  tliey  now  opcnetl  their 
gates.  ;iihI  were  ahle  to  inchide  the  wiiole  academical 
j).)|iuiati()n  within  their  walls,  by  which  they  obtaiued 
a  preponderating  weight  and  influence.  This  power, 
hc)W(!ver,  might  have  been  defeated,  if  the  Earl  of 
Leicester,  chancellor  of  the  university,  had  not  obtained 
in  1570,  an  exclusive  right  to  institute  new  halls 
which  was  afterwards  by  statute  vested  in  his  succes 
sDrs.  As  the  chief  magistrate  acted  usually  in  conct-rl 
wi'h  the  heads  of  colleges,  it  was  henceforth  easy  fui 
the  colleges -to  prevent  any  new  hall  from  interfering 
with  their  monopoly  ;  whereas,  previously  to  1570,  the 
establishment  of  a  hall  was  easy,  it  being  only  re- 
quired that  a  small  number  of  scholars  should  hire  a 
house,  lind  caution  for  a  year's  rent,  and  choose  foi 
principal  a  graduate  of  respectable  character.  The 
chancellor,  or  his  deputy,  could  not,  in  that  case,  refuse 
to  sanction  his  appointment. 

The  new  constitution,  procured  for  the  university 
by  I-eicester,  was  considerably  modified  under  the 
chancellorship  of  Archbishop  Laud,  who  raised  the 
heads  of  houses  to  the  rank  of  a  public  body,  called 
til**  Hebdomadal  Board,  to  whom  the  privilege  was 
given  of  proposing  new  laws  to  the  House  of  Convoca 
tion.  To  the  latter,  consisting  of  the  doctors  and  the 
masters  of  arts,  the  supreme  legislation  was  still  left 
but  without  the  power  of  initiating  any  measures 
'I'he  heads  were,  by  the  constitution  of  their  colleges 
almost  all  ecclesiastics,  and  chosen  from  among  the 
fellows  of  their  respective  colleges.  Their  election  was, 
therefore,  subi<.'ct  to  all  the  disabilities  and  restrictions 
imposed  on  the  fellows  by  the  caprice  of  the  founder. 


Chap.  xiii. 


ENGLISH    UMVEUSITIES. 


223 


Tlui.--  two  new  elements,  tlie  preponderating  influence 
ofclfiictil  over  Iny  rulers,  ami  (lie  ibrtiiitous  restrictiona 
iinenle;!  for  llic  re^uiiitioii  of  private  corporations,  en- 
tered siidiieiily,  and  as  it  were  accidentally,  into  the 
legislative  constitution  of  the  university. 

From  this  period,  it  was  almost  inevitable,  that  the 
predilections  of  men  of  one  profession,  and  the  private 
interests  of  certain  corporate  bodies,  should  modify,  if 
not  remodel,  the  whole  academical  system,  and  fre- 
quently prevail  over  interests  of  a  more  general  and 
national  character.  Soon  after  the  university  had  be- 
gun to  recover  from  the  shock  of  tiie  Reformation, 
several  new  readerships  and  professorships  were  en- 
dowed by  Laud,  and  several  others  in  the  next  cen- 
tury, after  his  time,  in  aid  of  that  system  of  public 
instrtiction  in  the  schools,  which  had  been  conducted 
originally  by  certain  Masters  of  Arts,  who  were  re- 
quired to  read  and  expound  diflerent  subjects.  The 
teaciiing  of  the  undergraduates  was  now,  therefore, 
divided  between  the  colleges  and  the  public  instructors 
appointed  by  the  university.  The  latter  would  have 
regained  their  former  ascendancy,  if  they  had  been 
supported  by  the  Heads  of  houses,  who  were  intrusted 
with  the  charge  of  watching  over  the  observance  of 
statutes,  and  all  "scholastic  improvements."  But  they 
(the  Heads)  no  longer  obliged  the  students  to  attend 
public  lectures  regularly  ;  and  they  frequently  allowed 
some  of  the  professors  to  desist  from  lecturing  altogether, 
which  many  of  them,  from  indolence,  and  from  finding 
their  audiences  fall  olT,  were  disposed  to  do,  especially 
as  their  instructions  were  given  gratis.  Such  was  the 
ordinary  custom  in  the  old  universities :  but  in  later 
times  it  had  been  found  that  this  arrangement  was 


,!.  I 


224 


oxFoiiij — C'fiLr.ixii;  'j"i  toils.      Cuap.  xm 


very  tlofcclive,  that  tlio  piofcssor?^  wen;  n('j2;Iig'^nt.  aiul 
that  the  .stii(l(Mit.s  midcrvahMHl  w  hat  coA  thciii  ikhIijim-, 
so  that  Ices  wvav  pciniilUMl  to  he  cxacteil.  In  Oxford, 
however,  the  piol'essors  were  supplanted,  in  n.^pccf  iu 
these  fees,  l)y  the  colleire  tutor,  to  whom  a  lanrf^  |);irt 
of  the  husiness  of  echjcalion  was  thus  <:i,ra(hially  trans- 
ferred. Had  a  dillerent  eourse  l)cen  adoptevl,  the  pro- 
fessors, at'quirin<»'  in  many  cases  celehrity  in  tlu  ir  re- 
s))ective  departnjents,  and  devoted  permtinenlly,  (ind 
often  enlluisiasticaily,  to  tlie  sciences  tiiey  ta unlit, 
would  have  married  and  settled  for  hfe  in  Oxford  ; 
they  would  have  g-ained  an  ascendancy  over  the  niind>j 
of  the  students  and  the  younger  graduates  in  convo 
cation  ;  and  many  of  them  would  have  acquired  an 
European  reputation.  The  colleges  might  naturally 
feel  jealous  of  allowing  the  growth  of  such  a  counter- 
poise to  the  power  with  which  they  had  been  recently 
invested. 

"When  the  old  machinery  was  thus  falling  into  dis- 
use, and  before  the  plan  of  college  tuition  was  fully 
organised,  the  academical  discipline  appears  to  have 
been  extremely  lax,  and  the  provision  for  education 
defective  in  the  extreme.  It  was  often  diilicult  to  find 
a  college  tutor  competent  to  imdertake  the  ollico,  and 
there  was  occasionally  only  one  or  two  of  the  resident 
fellows  willing  to  accept  of  it.  Instead  of  these  im- 
portant places  being  open  to  a  free  and  fair  conipi'li- 
tion,  we  may  say  that  they  were  often  held  by  self- 
appointed  teachers.  A  regulation  was  made,  that  nil 
the  undergraduates  should  lodge  within  the  walls  of 
some  college,  which  had  the  efiect  of  preventing  stu- 
dents from  freely  selecting  those  tutors  who  had  the 
highest  reputation,  as  rooms  within  the  walls   were 


h     .:■ 


Chap.  xin.       EXAMTNATION    .STVTUTK    OF    IS'lO. 


225 


soon  (illotl,  and  no  ()V(mIIo\v  was  •illowi'd  of  |)ii|)ils!  loily 
i:)y  ill  t\ui  town.  'I'lic  rijlbiccmenf  oi  tlii-  law  was 
said  (()  liiive  been  jealoiis'.y  watched  by  .souk;  follegen, 
which  would  otherwise  have  been  all  but  des(Mled, 
lowurds  the  ch)se  of  the  last  century.  'I'he  nunieiouji 
scholarships  and  other  endowments  of  the  universitv, 
the  college  livings,  and  the  acadenhcal  degrees  re(|uiied 
a?i  tjualilications  for  entering  holy  orders,  rendered  the 
university  very  independent  of  public  opinion  ;  and 
whether  it  taught  nothing  elViciently,  or  failed  to  ac- 
connnodate  its  form  of  instruction  to  the  progress  and 
spirit  of  the  age,  it  could  never  apprehend  a  serious 
diminution  of  students. 

Occasionally,  there  were  examinations  and  a  revival 
of  studious  habits  in  a  particular  college,  or  some  pro- 
fessor gave  a  popular  course  of  lectures,  and  drew  large 
audiences,  "^rhus  Bradley,  the  famous  astronomer, 
delivered,  between  the  years  17 Ki  and  17GI),  to  a  class 
of  pupils  averaging  57  in  number,  hn.tures  on  Natural 
Philosophy,  not  in  Latin,  ;'.s  had  been  the  old  practice, 
but  in  English.  I  kit  the  general  indolence  of  the  in- 
structors, and  the  idleness  and  dissipation  of  the  young 
men,  became  so  notorious  and  llagrant  towards  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  that  a  reform  was 
loudly  called  for,  and  the  governing  body  became 
deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  its  expediency.  Many 
plans  were  devised  for  carrying  it  into  elfect.  As  the 
annual  or  terminal  examinations  in  several  colleges 
had  been  found  most  useful  in  maintaining  orderly 
habits  among  the  young  men,  it  was  jjroposed  to  im- 
prove the  public  examinations,  which  had  become  a 
mere  form,  and  to  compel  every  one  to  pass  them  be- 
fore obtaining  his  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.    Honours 


Hi. 


^ 


220 


OXFORD. 


CriAP.  xin 


1: 


II 


%:    * 


woro  to  l)c  awardcil  to  those  wlio  distingiiUhcd  tliem 
selves. 

It  was  now  evident  that  the  shape  in  which  lliig 
new  statute  was  framed  would  deteiniine  what  studii-d 
should  henceforih  he  eni'ouiaged  or  discouraged  in  the 
univcrsiiy.  It  was  clearly  p'-'nted  out,  at  the  time, 
that  all  those  suhjecJs  which  could  not  lead  to  acadeni- 
ical  (li>iinctions  would  he  virlually  proscribed  ;  and  thai 
the  well-known  maxim  of  our  lawyers  in  the  interprc- 
taliori  of  statutes  would  hold  good  in  this  case,  "  De 
noil  apparentihus  ct  de  non  existentihus  cadem  est 
ratio."  Vi'hatcver  science  was  omitted  in  the  list  of 
studies  selected  for  the  trial  of  strength  woidd  be  hence- 
forth not  merely  slighted,  hut  virtually  blotted  out  of 
the  academical  course.  Academical  honours  wore 
here  no  empty  bubbles,  but  might  be  expected  to  lead 
to  fellowships,  tutorships,  livings,  and  olher  solid  ad- 
vantages. If  the  Heads  of  Houses  and  Members  of 
Convocation  had  been  simply  legislating  for  national 
object-^,  and  had  not  been  the  representatives  of  private 
and  collegiate  interests,  which  were  not  alway.s  iden- 
tical with  those  of  the  public,  it  would  have  been  easy 
to  devise  a  comprehensive  system  of  examinations,  con- 
sist iiig  of  several  boards,  to  which  the  professors,  as 
well  as  tutors,  would  have  been  appointed,  in  stricter 
accordance  with  the  spirit,  and  even  letter,  of  the  old 
statutes,  than  the  new  law  which  was  then  enacted. 
But  tliis  might  soon  have  altered  entirely  the  relative 
po-*ili:^u  in  wdiich  the  college  tutors  now  stood  to  the 
pu!»lic  readers  and  professors.  The  latter  would  soon 
have  acquired  greater  consequence  in  convocation; 
and  had  such  a  measure  been  proposed  by  the  Heb- 
domadal Board  it  would  probably  have  been  lost.     Ac- 


Pl^. 


■■:s,ji' 


Chap.  xtri.     EXAMINATION    STATUTE    OF    1800. 


227 


I  M 


cordiiigly,  it  waa  soon  foimd  that  the  new  examination 
staliite  of  the  year  1800  was  to  be  worked  by  tiie  col- 
lege tutors,  yoiiJig-  men  for  the  most  part  about  thirty 
years  of  age ;  and  sucii  being  the  case,  no  one  can 
deny  tiiat  studies  embracing  tlie  Greek  and  Roman 
writers  on  liistory,  pliilosophy,  poetry,  logic,  rhetoric, 
and  elhics,  besides  Clirislian  tlieology,  and  the  ele- 
ments of  mathematics,  was  as  extensive  a  range  as 
was  compatible  wilh  such  an  executive.  If  they  erred, 
their  error  certainly  consisted  in  enlarging  the  circle  of 
subjects  far  beyond  the  capacity  of  the  college  tutor,  be 
his  talents  ever  so  great.  The  legislators  especially 
displayed  discretion  in  excluding  from  the  schools  all 
♦.he  more  progressive  branches  of  knowledge ;  for,  in 
order  to  be  a  safe  guide  in  directing  the  opinions  of  a 
pupil,  or  teaching  what  is  known  in  such  branches, 
liable  as  they  are  to  be  modified  from  year  to  year,  by 
new  facts,  discoveries,  and  investigations,  the  preceptor 
nuist  have  leisure  to  devote  his  mind  exclusively  to  one 
subject. 

The  new  statute  did  not  pass  without  a  severe  strug- 
gle. The  lector  of  liincohi  College,  in  particular,  op- 
posed it,  as  a  measure  that  would  extinguish  all  "  thirst 
of  knowledge."  "  There  would  henceforth,"  he  said, 
'  be  no  tiniversity  at  all,  but  a  system  of  cramming 
and  partial  teaching,  after  which  the  student  would 
go  out  into  the  world  with  a  narrow  mind  and  darker 
understanding." 

The  necessity,  however,  of  preparing  for  the  com- 
pulsory examination,  before  taking  a  degree,  worked 
immediately  a  salutary  change  in  the  habits  and  moral 
conduct  of  the  idler  students.  The  more  clever  and 
ambitious  amongst  tliem  began  to  be  excited  by  th» 


hll! 


■•  >  .J,  ll 

■m 

Wf 

22S 


OXFORD    EXAMINATIONS. 


Chap,  xul 


competition  for  lionoiirs  ;  a  marked  improvement  was 
soon  apparent  in  academical  discipline  ;  the  university 
gained  in  public  favour,  and  the  lunnber  of  !*tudenls 
increased.  The  classes  even  of  some  of  the  professors 
were  strengthened ;  but  this  effect  was  of  short  (hira- 
tion.  It  was  soon  found  that  the  honours  awarded  at 
the  examinations  led  to  fellowships  and  tutorships;  and 
the  honourable  rivalry  of  many  of  the  colleges  indiked 
them  to  throw  open  their  fellowships  and  scholarships 
much  more  freely  than  formerly  to  candidates  of  the 
highest  merit ;  the  standard  of  merit,  however,  hciiig, 
for  the  most  part,  measured  by  the  new  examinations 
in  the  schools.  New  methods  were  from  time  to  liiiio 
invented  for  classifying  the  youths  according  (o  their 
intellectual  qualifications.  In  1S07,  students  who  dis- 
tinguished themselves  were  arranged  in  two  dasse-,  in 
1809  in  three,  and  in  1826  in  fortr.  A  preliminary 
examination,  called  the  responsions,  or  "little  go,"  was 
introduced  at  the  end  of  the  first  two  years,  or  in  the 
middle  of  the  student's  residence  at  Oxford.  The  ex- 
aminations for  degrees  were  made  more  and  more 
stringent,  and  emulation  at  length  stimulated  to  so 
high  a  pitch,  that  health  was  often  sacrificed  in  the 
effort  to  gain  the  prize.  Useful  habits  of  application 
were  often  acquired,  but  the  system  was  not  calculated 
to  foster  a  love  of  knowledge  for  its  own  sake.  To 
some  there  was  even  danger  of  injury  both  bodily  and 
mental ;  for  if  they  succeeded,  they  were  tempted  to 
believe  that  they  had  already  achieved  something 
great ;  if  they  failed,  their  abihties  were  underrated, 
both  by  themselves  and  their  contemporaries. 

Another  important  revolution  now  took  place.    As 
the  biisinesH  of  education  had  previously  passed  from 


■1^1 


Chap.  xiii. 


O.VFOIID    PRIVATi:    TUTORS. 


229 


tlic  public  reader-  airJ  pnifcssors  to  t!ie  colles^e  tutora, 
so  the  latter  were  now  in  no  small  deirree  superseded 
by  the   j)rivate  tiilor.s  or   '  crammers."     Tl 


lesc   were 


grndnale.s  chosen  by  llie  yoiin<jf  men  themselves,  at  an 
expense  of  4(1/.  or  5'M.  a  year,  to  read  will)  them,  both 
in  term-time  and  vacation,  and  })repare  them  for  the 
examination.  An  Oxfonl  tutor  informed  me  that,  in 
tlie  years  1810  and  IH-U.  no  le-s  tiian  251).  or  one 
fifth  of  the  resident  stutlents,  procured  this  kind  of  as- 
sistance, the  a<j:ij:regate  sum  paid  by  them  amountin<T 
to  more  than  KMJUOZ.  a  year  !  These  youn'_>-  teachers 
watch  the  examinations,  are  ac([uainted  with  the  style 


01  the  (jiiestions,  wlieLlier  viva  voce  or  on  paper,  and 
often  with  the  neculiar  views  of  the  examiner.     It  i? 


pc 


liitMr  busmess  to  prevent  theu'  pupd  Iron]  waslmg'  his 
slreni^th  on  topics  not  likely  to  be  adverted  to,  and 
often  lo  enal)le  him  to  get  by  rote  answers  to  certain 
i:iterro:*"atories.  The  students  are  fretpiently  unable 
10  obtain  this  aiti  from  the  coUeg'c  tutor,  whose  system 
of  lecturini^  is  more  g^eneral,  and  who  cannot  direct  his 
attention  to  the  indivilual  wants  and  capacities  of 
every  pupil.  The  underg-radualcs,  tlierefore,  may  be 
recjuired  to  attend,  between  ten  and  one  o'clock,  the 
lectures  of  tlie  college  tutors.  The  next  two  hours 
(from  one  to  three)  are  generally  occupied  by  the  pii- 
vate  tutors,  comprising  that  portion  of  the  day  during 
which  the  professors  aie  by  statute  recjuired  to  lecture. 
At  three  o'clock,  it  is  bigh  time  for  the  young  men  to 
seek  recreation  and  exercise  ;  so  that  all  the  youths, 
especially  the  cleverest  ones,  are  so  entirely  absorbed  in 
a  routine  of  study  connected  with  the  examinations, 
that  the  professorial  class-rooms  must  unavoidably  be 
abandoned.     Bachelors  of  arts,  and  other  graduates, 

20 


230 


PRIVATE    TUTORH    AT    CAMBUIDGE.    Chap.  xin. 


f   A 


had  been  herotofoio  in  the  hiibit  of  attending  public 
lecdnes;  but  most  of  tliem  now  became  cngrosised 
with  the  new  and  luciative  business  of  crannning. 

We  learn  from  Dr.  Peacock,  now  Dean  of  Ely,  for 
many  years  an  eminent  tutor  at  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge, that  in  that  university,  also,  a  similar  revolution 
took  place  nearly  at  the  same  time.*  "  A  large  propor- 
tion," he  says,  '-of  all  the  students,  industrious  or  idle, 
rich  or  poor,  resort  to  private  tutors,  to  whom  they  pay, 
on  an  average,  about  4U/.  a  year.  These  teachers," 
he  continues,  "are  young  and  inexperienced,  and  not 
competent  to  convey  enlarged  views"  to  their  pupils. 
The  labour  imposed  on  them  is  too  absorbing  and  se- 
veie  to  allow  of  the  ^simultaneous  prosecution  of  origi- 
nal studies;  and  "this  unhappy  system  has  contribu 
ted,  more  than  any  other  cause,  to  the  very  general, 
and,  in  some  respects,  just  complaints,  which  have  been 
made  of  late  years,  of  the  paucity  of  works  of  learning 
and  research  which  had  issued  from  the  University  of 
Cambridge." 

And  here  I  may  observe,  that  it  is  often  the  boast 
of  writers  who  extol  our  university  system  above  that 
of  other  countries,  that  we  promote  liberal  studies,  and 
lo  not  condescend  to  qualify  students  for  a  lucrative 
profession  or  trade.  But  what  is  the  real  lact }  Do 
not  the  majority  of  the  ablest  students  toil  at  Latin, 
Greek,  and  mathematics,  with  purely  professiop'd  ob- 
jects 7  Are  they  not  preparing  themselves  for  beconi- 
.ing  private  tutors,  scliooimastcrs,  and  college-tutors; 
expecting  to  combine  these  avocations  with  fellow- 
ships, or  with  clerical  duties?    Are  not  the  things  they 

*  See  his  excellent  work  on  the  Statutes  of  the  University  of  Cam* 
bridge,  p.  156. 


I 


CHAr.  XIII. 


PRIVATE    TUTORS. 


231 


learn  regarded  as  tlie  means  of  carninjr  a  livelihood,  or 
wliat  the  German?  call  "  Brodstiidien,"  in  plain  Eni;- 
lish,  to  '-make  the  pot  boil?"  That  some  students 
sliould  be  ipialifying  themselves  at  the  university  to 
become  masters  in  our  public  schools  is  highly  desira- 
ble;  and  it  would  be  well  if  the  station  in  society  of 
the  schoolmaster,  apart  from  any  adventitious  aid  de- 
rived from  uniting  with  it  the  clerical  fiuiction,  ranked 
as  high  in  England  as  it  does  in  Germany  and  the 
New-England  States  ;  but  why  should  not  the  utilita- 
rianism of  our  universities  comprehend  equally,  within 
the  sphere  of  its  educational  training,  those  branches 
of  general  knowledge  which  are  equally  essential  to 
the  future  statesman,  divine,  lawyer,  physician,  and 
men  of  other  liberal  callings? 

1  am  aware  that  it  may  be  said,  in  regard  to  "  cram- 
mers,' that,  under  every  system,  some  kind  of  private 
tuition  will  be  recjuired,  and  it  will  be  asked,  whether 
the  assistants,  under  a  professorial  plan  of  instruction, 
would  not  be  ecjually  kept  back  in  the  improvement 
of  their  own  minds?  Certainly  not — they  would  di- 
vide themselves  at  once  into  as  many  sections  as  there 
are  departments  of  study  recognised  in  the  public  ex- 
aminations. They  would  devote  their  minds  steadily 
to  subjects  connected  with  theology,  or  with  law,  or 
medicine,  or  engineering,  or  literary  criticism,  or  ap- 
plied mathematics,  or  other  branches.  Occasionally 
they  would  lecture  for  the  professor,  who,  if  worthy  of 
his  charge,  must  advance  with  his  science,  and  not  be 
ignorant  of  new  discoveries  and  theories.  Like  him, 
they  could  not  remain  stationary.  They  would  aspire 
in  due  time  to  fill  his  place,  or  some  chair  in  another 
university.    Such  private  tutors,  whether  lay  or  clerical, 


t 
' :      ■  ■    i 

■             '          i 

1  : 

11 

232 


PROPOSED    REFORM 


Chap,  xiii 


1 

'ii 

1 

1 

^s 

4' 

LkXi^BiwSBdi 

would  not  be  fjiind,  at  tlie  expiration  of  ten  years  of 
h.ud  and  |)aiiifal  labour,  j)it'ciriely  at  the  point  IVom 
vvl.icli  they  &ct  out  ininiediattly  after  taking  llieir  lirsl 
deurce. 

In  ti)c  year  1S39,  a  last  and  most  vjtrorous  attempt 
was  made  at  Oxford  to  restore  the  fimclions  of  llie  pro- 
lessoii  il  body,  wl.ich  bad  now  become  contrr.cted  wiib- 
iii  the  narrow(!st  Ihnits.  'J'he  professors  of  Experimen- 
tal Philosophy,  Comparative  Anatomy,  Chemistry, 
Mineralogy,  (ieology,  l^otany.  Geometry,  and  Astiono- 
iny,  many  of  them  well  known  in  the  literary  and  sci- 
entitic  world,  sent  in  a  representation  to  tiie  heads  of 
Houses,  in  which  they  declared  their  inability  to  dis- 
charge the  duties  they  had  undertaken,  notwithstand- 
ing their  unabated  zeal  and  devotion.  They  accom- 
panied their  petition  Avitli  a  printed  statistical  table, 
show  ing  how  the  number  of  their  classes  had  falleji  oil 
annually,  during  a  period  in  which,  as  they  truly  ob- 
served, the  branches  of  knowledge  taught  by  them 
were  rising  in  popular  favour  and  importance.  It  ap- 
peared by  their  table,  that  the  anatomy  class  had  dwin- 
dled between  the  years  1819  and  1838  to  less  than 
half,  and  that  of  astronomy  to  one  fiflh  of  its  original 
numbers.  The  same  had  happened  to  the  class  of 
chemistry,  between  1822  and  1838,  many  others  hav- 
ing declined  in  the  like  ratio.  The  petitioners  observed 
that,  if  no  change  were  made  in  the  examination  stat- 
ute, their  usefulness  as  professors  was  at  an  end. 

A  majority  of  the  heads  of  Houses  were  favourable 
to  a  reform,  and  they  consecjuently  proposed  a  new  ex- 
amination statute,  in  which  there  was  a  provision  re< 
quiring  attendance  on  at  least  two  series  of  professorial 
lectures,  as  a  preliminary  qualification  for  the  bachelor 


m 


CiiAi'.  xin. 


AT    OXFORD    IN    1S3'.). 


ii33 


liem 
ap- 
iwin- 
lian 
^inul 
of 
liav- 
Mvetl 
siat- 


of  arts'  degree.  '^J'he  subjects  of  tlie  various  jdofessoi?' 
lecturer  were  chssilied  uiuier  two  head;;,  and  one  course 
was  to  be  selected  by  the  sludeiit,  from  each  ih vision. 
The  professors  were  recpiiicd  to  keep  a  register  of  at- 
tendance, and  give  certilicaies.  Ahiiough  a  new  board 
of  examiners  to  bestow  lionorary  distinctions  was  nut 
jjart  of  this  plan,  tlie  measure  might  evcuLually  liavo 
led  to  this  and  other  improvements. 

IJul  it  was  now  too  late — relorm  was  beyond  I  lie 
power  of  the  Hebdomadal  iioard.  8(?veral  academical 
generations  had  grown  up  under  liie  innv  older  of 
things.  The  collegiate  and  private  tutors  were  inter- 
ested in  opposing  the  new  provisions,  and  tliey  w(-re 
accordingly  rejected  in  convocation.  Vet  while  they 
threw  out  that  part  of  the  proposed  statute  which 
would  have  gone  far  towards  reviving  tiie  professorial 
chairs,  they  passed  another  part  recjuiring  the  pro- 
fessors of  Astronomy,  Experimental  Philosophy,  Chem- 
istry, Geology,  Mineralogy,  Anatomy,  Cotany,  Medi- 
cine, Civil  Law,  English  Ijaw,  Greek,  Arabic,  Sanscrit, 
Anglo-Saxon,  Poetry,  Modern  Histoiy,  and  Political 
Economy,  to  deliver  regular  courses  of  lectures.  They 
were,  in  fact,  bound  not  only  by  ancient  statutes  to  re- 
quire the  teachers  above  enunierated  faithfully  to  dis- 
charge their  duty,  but  in  modern  times,  or  since  the 
exanunation  statute  of  18(J0,  they  had  sanctioned  the 
foundation  of  new  chairs,  such  as  Experimental  I'hi- 
losophy,  IMineralogy,  Geology,  Political  Economy,  and 
Sanscrit,  and  had  accepted  annual  grants  from  the 
Crown  to  endow  certain  readerships.  In  homage, 
therefore,  to  the  moral  obligations  they  had  incurred,  not 
to  render  these  new  and  old  foundations  nugatory,  they 
continued  to  exo''t  an  outward  conformity  to  the  stat- 


i       'I 


234 


CHANGES    OF    SYSTEM 


CiMp.  xia 


r 


iites.  by  onforrini^  llKMlcliveryof  Icctiiief"',  tli«  efRciency 
of  wliirli  ilicy  uilowcti  oilier  jmrls  of  tlu-ir  system  en- 
tirely to  tleli-'Ut.  Their  coiuhiet  leniiiids  us  of  tlic  oiders 
issued  by  Cliarles  llie  Fifth  to  oiler  up  pinycis  thtnugh- 
out  Spain  for  the  deliverance  of  the  Pope,  uliile  he 
sulTeied  his  army  to  retain  him  pri.soner  iii  the  Castlo 
of  St.  Angelo. 

It  mu^t  not  be  inferred,  however,  from  tlie  prceetling 
observations,  that  1  assume  that  the  majority  of  the 
members  of  Convocation  are  not  men  of  high  jHinciple, 
and  animated  with  a  conscientious  desire  of  discharg- 
ing faitiifully  their  public  duties.  They  and  their  pre- 
decessors probably  did  not  at  any  moment  deliberately 
plan  or  avow  to  themselves  the  line  of  policy  which 
they  have  followed  out  so  systematically,  and  with  so 
much  unity  of  purpose.  Tlic  judgment  of  each  gen- 
eftition  has  been  constantly  biassed  by  the  same  dis- 
turbing causes  (the  collegiate  and  clerical  interests), 
which,  like  a  current  steadily  setting  one  way,  has  in- 
sensibly carried  the  whole  academical  body  out  of  its 
true  course.  In  conformity  to  these  interests,  the  origi- 
nal constitution  has  been  gradually  modilied,  and  the 
system,  when  changed,  has  formed  the  minds  of  the 
succeeding  generation,  preparing  it  for  new  innovations, 
all  conceived  in  the  same  spirit.  If  any  single  individ- 
ual can  be  charged  with  a  deliberate  purpose  of  alter- 
ing, essentially,  the  ancient  constitution  of  the  univer- 
sity, it  is  probably  Archbishop  Laud. 

The  year  1839  was  memorable  in  Europe  for  anotlicr 
event,  tending  to  prove  how  unpropiiious  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  physical  sciences  is  the  ecclesiastical  spirit, 
whenever  it  obtains  an  undue  power  of  interference 
with  academical  institutions.     In  the  year  alluded  to, 


Chap.  xiii. 


AT    OXFORD. 


235 


in- 


tlie  first  "congrcss"of  scientific  men  took  plac^T  in  Italy. 
It  a55sernI)le(J  at  Pi^^a,  under  tiic  au-pice^j  of  the  euli^lil- 
eni^d  prince  who  now  reigns  in  Tuscany.  IMie  Fope 
interdicted  all  the  professoifi!  of  his  colleges  of  Kon\c  and 
Bologna,  many  of  whom  A\eic  prepared  to  co-opeiate 
warndy  with  the  new  association,  from  attending  it. 
The  papal  prohibition  was  continued  at  the  subsequent 
meetings  at  Turin,  Florence,  jVIilan,  and  elsewhere. 
Nevertheless,  the  congress  nourished,  and,  in  spite  of 
tiie  Pontiff's  opposition,  drew  together  many  of  the 
most  distinguished  men  from  all  parts  of  Emope, 
and  of  Italy,  beyond  the  confines  of  the  States 
of  the  Church.  It  has  also  given  to  the  world  live 
costly  volumes  of  valuable  scientific  memoirs,  which, 
but  for  such  patronage,  might  have  remained  unpub- 
lished to  this  day. 

Doubtless  the  vote  of  the  Oxford  Convocation  in 
1839  was  influenced  by  various  motives  ;  among  others, 
a  conscientious  corlempt  for  that  sham  professorial 
system  which  the  graduates  had  so  long  contrasted  wi'h 
a  reality,  in  the  form  of  compulsory  tutorial  lectures 
and  examinations,  leading  to  degrees,  and  often  follow- 
ed by  fellowships,  livings,  prebendal  stalls,  and  bishop- 
rics. In  addition  to  these  causes,  it  has  been  very 
generally  understood  that  many,  both  of  the  college  and 
private  tutors,  were  opposed  to  the  cultivation  of  the  phys- 
ical sciences  on  principle,  on  account  of  their  alleged  irre- 
ligious tendency.  No  one  who  reads  some  of  the  ar!,i- 
cles  written  by  men  who  were  fellows  or  tutors  at 
Oxford,  in  the  British  Critic,  against  the  "  Eritish  As-^o- 
ciation  for  tlie  Promotion  of  Science,"  can  wondir  that 
such  reports  were  credited,  or  that  they  provoked,  from 
a  prelate  educated  at  Oxford,  the  remark  that  "men 


* 


'i 


;|^ 


236 


OPPOSITION    TO    PROPOSED 


Chap.  xu\ 


who  entertain  siicli  fears  seem  to  forget  that  the  book 
of  Nat  Hie  aiul  I  lie  bojk  of  ivcvelatiou  were  both  wrticu 
by  the  same  Author." 

Men  are  prone  to  untlervahie  tliose  branches  of 
knowledge  which  are  foreign  to  their  own  pursuits- ; 
ajul  if  physicians,  or  kiwyers,  or  civil  engineers,  iuul 
usmped  as  decided  an  ascendency  in  the  legislation  of 
a  university,  as  the  clerical  graduates  have  now  accjui- 
red  at  Oxford,  complaints  as  loud  and  well  founded 
might  have  been  heard,  that  a  due  share  of  attention 
was  not  bestowed  on  studies  connected  with  theology. 
In  Uiis  spirit,  therefore,  it  was  attempted  to  mix  up  re 
ligious  instruction  with  the  teaching  of  other  subjects. 
By  some  tutors  it  was  held  desirable  that  all  ethics 
metaphysics, and  philosophy  should  be  "christianized." 

Tbe  practice  of  taking  up  for  the  examinations  for 
honours  such  works  as  Butler's  Analogy  and  Sermons 
had  been  encouraged  after  the  year  1830,  when  a 
statute  liad  passed  "that  the  philosophy  of  the  an^'ients 
miglit  be  illustrated  in  the  schools,  'ex  neotericorum 
scriptis,'  or  by  the  writings  of  the  moderns."  This  and 
otber  changes  had  opened  the  door  for  considerable 
molifications  in  the  course  of  academical  study,  and 
had  given  a  new  turn  to  the  thoughts  of  many  of  the 
most  rising  and  talented  young  men.  It  should  be  re- 
meiTibered  that  the  last  ten  years  has  been  liie  era  of 
the  Tractarian  movement  at  Oxford,  and  the  active 
intellect  of  the  university  has  been  for  the  mo  t  part 
absorbed  in  theological  controversy.  He  who  aspired 
to  honours  was  bound  in  prudence  to  consider  that  hi? 
young  judge,  the  arbiter  of  his  academical  fate,  miglit 
probably  be  an  advocate  of  the  views  set  forth  in  some 
one  or  more  of  the  Tracts  for  the  Times.     He  might 


i. 


ClIAP.    XIII. 


REFORM    AT    OXFORD. 


237 


be  one  who  was  fully  impressed  with  tlie  flop-ma  ilint 
"etiiics  unconnected  wilh  tlie  churcli  is  a  rundnnieiital 
fallacy  ;"  dial  "  man  without  the  cliurcli  has  no  rijilit  to 
educate  man*  ;"  that  ''  youth  is  toonpt  to  deliohi  in  the 
inductive,  instead  of  the  deductive,  leasoninj;- ;" — "  to 
prefer  novelty  to  antiquity,"  investigation  to  obedience 
to  authority,  &c. 

As  an  example  of  the  deductive  process,  as  applied  to 
iry  own  favourite  science,  by  a  college  tutor  and  pub- 
lic examiner  of  this  period,  I  may  cite  a  passage  (n  m 
lectures  delivered  in  the  university  at  the  era  under 
consideration,  and  since  published  : — 

"  A  geologist,  deeply  impressed  with  the  niA^stery  of 
nptism,  by  which  a  '  new  creature,'  ..,.;;  Kr'nu,  is  form- 
ed, by  means  of  water  and  fire,  would  never  have  fall- 
en into  the  absurdities  of  accounting  for  tlie  formation 
of  the  glo!)e  solely  by  water  or  solely  by  lire.  He  would 
not  have  maintained  either  a  Viilcniiian  or  a  Neptu- 
nian t!ieorv.''t  The  reader  may  well  imaoine.  that,  if 
otiicr  departnjents  of  science  were  "cluistinnized"  after 
t!  e  like  fashion,  the  scholar  might  rnn  some  risk  of 
emerging  into  the  world,  from  liis  academical  career, 
with  bis  reasoning  powers  enfeebled,  and  his  intellects 
Riystified. 

But  to  conclude  our  historicnl  sketch.  After  the  year 
l8o9.  we  may  consider  three-fourlbs  of  I  lie  sciences, 
t^till  nominally  taught  at  Oxford,  to  liave  been  vhiual- 
ly  e\iled  from  the  University,  "^riie  ckii-s  rooms  of  the 
professors  were  some  of  tb.em  entirely,  olliers  nearly, 
deserted. — Cbemistry  and  botany  attracted,  between 
tile  years  ISV)  an<l  ISI-I,  from  three  to  seven  students ; 

*  Soe  Se\v(4r;<  Cliri«tian  Morals,  cli.  iv.  and  x. 
t  Ibiil  ch.  x-vii. 


238 


LECTURKS    AnANDONED. 


CiiAr. 


xni 


I*' 


,>^ 


ni 

H^^HBV  flK 

11'  " 

n 

^wM 

11 

H 

HI 

|| ; 

H 

Hi 

II 

IB 

■^■^kI  t    BT 

11 

w 

ill 

(.) 

geometry,  Jistronoinv,  and  experimental  pliilosopliy, 
scarcely  mare  ;  miner:il();i:y  anil  jj^ea!.)<:^y,  still  t.tiiglit  by 
the  same;  professor  wiio,  lilleen  years  before,  bad  at 
traded  crowded  audiences,  from  ten  to  twelve  ;  pt)liii 
cal  economy  still  fewer  ;  even  ancient  history  and  poe- 
try scarcely  commanded  an  audience  ;  and,  strange  to 
say,  in  a  country  with  whose  destinies  those  of  India 
are  so  closely  bound  up,  the  first  of  Asiatic  scholars 
gave  lectures  to  one  or  two  pupils,  and  these  mij^ht 
jjave  been  absent,  had  not  the  cherished  hope  of  a  IJo- 
den  scholarship  for  Sanscrit  induced  them  to  attend. 

As  if  to  complete  the  cycle  of  change,  and  to  cause 
the  system  to  depart  as  widely  as  possible  from  the 
original  university,  which  secured  for  the  students  the 
services  of  public  and  permanent  teachers,  men  of  ma- 
ture age  and  acquirements,  and  often  highly  gil't'l 
the  Oxford  tuition  now  fell,  from  year  to  year,  into  the 
hands  of  younger  graduates,  whether  in  the  cai)aciiy 
of  private  tutors  or  examiners.  Several  causes  had 
concurred  to  accelerate  the  promotion  of  college  fol- 
lows. Their  number  was  still  the  same,  not  having 
increased  with  church  extension,  and  the  multiplica- 
tion of  new  schools  in  a  growing  population.  It  con- 
sequently became  so  diflicult  in  many  colleges  to  choose 
for  tutors,  fellows  who  were  not  manifestly  too  yo'ing, 
that,  to  remedy  the  evil,  several  heads  of  Houses  wisely 
permitted  men  who  had  forfeited  their  fellowshij)  by 
marriage  to  continue  as  tutors.  It  would  appear,  from 
the  Oxford  Calendar  for  1S35,  that  no  less  than  seven 
of  the  Colleges,  and  fom*  of  the  Halls,  have  been  driven 
to  this  resource.  Nevertheless,  the  ma joritv  of  the  body 
of  public  examiners  b-  often  un  Jer  the  age  of  thirty,  and 
Fome  of  them  only  twenty-five  years  old  !    They  go  out 


Chap.  xiii. 


CAMnRIDGE. 


239 


of  office  in  succession,  after  servinj^  for  two  years.  On 
lliis  lluctiiatinf^  body  of  voudix  men,  responsible  lo  iio 
one  for  tbeir  decisions,  whellier  in  passini^  students!  for 
de«rreei!,  or  in  awardinj^  honours,  a  ))rKly  havinj^  \\\e 
power  of  modifying-  at  their  caprice  the  whole  style 
and  tenour  of  the  public  examinations,  the  direction 
of  academical  education  in  this  great  country  has  prac- 
tically devolved ! 

At  Cambridge,  the  collegiate  influence  has,  since  the 
Reformation,  caused  the  university  to  pass  gradunlly 
through  nearly  all  the  same  phases  as  at  Oxford. 
Here,  also,  the  transference  of  the  business  of  instruc- 
tion from  the  public  and  permanent  to  the  collegiate 
and  temporary  teacher,  has  coincided  precisely,  in  point 
of  time,  with  greater  strictness  in  the  examinations, 
and  more  studious  habits  and  better  discipline  among 
the  undergraduates.  It  is  natural  that,  owing  to  this 
coincidence,  a  false  notion  should  be  engendered,  that 
the  subdivision  of  labour  amongst  a  well  oiganized  body 
of  professors  is  less  elicctive  than  the  method  of  college 
tuition. 

It  might,  perhaps,  have  been  expected  that  such  a 
subdivision  would  have  been  carried  farther  at  Cam- 
bridge, in  consequence  of  more  than  half  the  students 
being  members  of  two,  out  of  seventeen,  colleges  ; 
namely.  Trinity  and  St.  John's.  These  noble  foun- 
dations contain,  each  of  them,  from  400  to  500  under- 
graduates, and  might  almost  be  regarded,  from  their 
numerical  strength,  as  universities  of  themselves.  But 
although  the  fellowships  in  both  of  them  are  awarded 
to  merit,  the  educational  functions  must  be,  comnnra 
lively  speaking,  of  secondary  importance  to  the  fellows- 
tutor  ;  for,  being  almost  invariably  a  clergyman,  hia 


A 


1 

■• 

i 

■i''. 

fa    , 

.,  i 

" 

I 

l> 


240 


P  W  OF  F.SSOR  r  A 1,     1. 1  t  T I  K  FS 


CiiAP.  x:iL 


lii^^liost  hope  of  All  HIT  pn'fcniirni  is  not  in  tlio  I'nivrr- 
siiy,  l)iit  ill  tin;  Cliurcli.  'i'lu'  propoiliin  of  (>.tii(l(i,t« 
iiihMidiiii,''  It)  liiiic;  oiilcrs  i^>i  not  so  lar;j,e  hcie  as  fit  C)x- 
lord,  anil  llu'y  are  not  [('(jninnl  to  ^iihsciihe,  on  niiitiic- 
ulation,  any  I'ornnila  of  r«'li<j;ions  belief,  so  thai  Ivoniim 
Catholics  and  dissenters  from  llic  Clinrchof  Knizland 
can  study  here, and  ohtain  acadenucal  honours,  tluui!'li 
not  degre(;s.  Tlio  responsible  duty  of  conduc-li)i«r  ibe 
public  examinations  is  even  here  in  the  hands  of  very 
young  men,  though  two  of  the  mathematical  pn.fe  sors 
assist  in  awarding  the  Smith's  Trize,  the  highest  nin- 
thematical  honour;  aiul  the  professor  of  (ireek  and 
the  public  orator,  presumed  to  he  a  (M>t-rate  Latin 
scholar,  preside  in  the  examination  for  the  Chancel- 
lor's medal  for  classics. 

Very  recently  at  Cambridge,  all  branches  of  know- 
ledge taught  by  the  professors — in  a  word,  every  sub- 
ject except  what,  is  understood  in  our  universiiics  by 
classics  and  mathematics — have  had  sentence  of  ban- 
ishment pasjed  upon  them  in  the  form  of  new  com- 
pulsory examinalions,  under  the  management  of  col- 
lege tutors,  the  Oxford  plan  of  awarding  lionoiu's  to 
classical  anil  mathematical  attainments  alone  being 
adhered  to.  The  pi ofessors  of  chemistry  and  anatomy, 
who  had  formerly  considerable  classes,  iiave  only  mus- 
tered six  or  seven  j)upils,  akiiougli  slill  compelled  to 
give  courses  of  til'ly  lectures  each.  The  chairs  of  Tvlo- 
dern  History,  and  of  tlu;  application  of  jMachinery  to 
the  Arts,  once  mmibering  audiences  of  several  hun- 
dreds, have  been  in  like  manner  deserted  Yet  dis- 
pensations are  rarely  granted  for  the  discontinuance 
of  useless  duties,  cveii  when  only  two  pupils  present 
themselves. 


ClUP.  XIII.         AUANDONED    AT    CAMBRIDGE. 


241 


Moreover,  here,  rh  at  Oxford,  it  is  not  uncommon  to 
give  such  chairs  as  Matheuiatics,  Natural  Philosophy, 
Chemistry,  Botany,  Astronomy,  Cleology,  Mineralogy, 
and  otlicrs,  to  clergymen,  who  comhine  them  with  cler- 
ical duties,  or  throw  them  up  when  they  obtain  prefer- 
ment, and  who,  however  eminent,  owing,  as  they  must 
do,  a  mixed  allegiance,  partly  to  their  ecclesiastical  or- 
der, and  partly  to  the  professorial  body,  cannot  stand 
up  with  heart  and  courage  in  defence  of  the  public,  as 
opposed  (o  the  clerical  and  collegiate,  interests. 

Dr.  Whewell,  now  Master  of  Trinity,  after  many 
years'  experience  as  a  tutor  at  Cambridge,  published, 
in  1837,  his  views  on  the  plan  of  education  adopted 
in  the  English  universities.  His  arguments  in  favour 
of  employing  the  learned  languages  as  a  main  in- 
strument of  education  are  unanswerable,  and  enforced 
with  great  eloquence  and  power.  "In  what  a  condi- 
tion should  we  be,"  he  observes,  "if  our  connection 
with  the  past  were  snapped — if  Greek  and  Latin  w^ere 
forgotten?"*  No  less  cogent  are  his  reasons  for  cjulti- 
vating  mathematics  as  a  means  of  strengthening  the 
reasoning  powers  and  disciplining  the  mind.  But  when 
we  come  to  that  part  of  his  treatise  in  which  he  attempts 
to  defend  the  exclusive  monopoly  enjoyed  by  these 
subjects  in  the  education  of  young  men  at  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  from  the  ages  of  eighteen  to  twenty-two, 
including  a  period  at  the  end  of  which  the  majority  of 
them  quit  college  altogether,  his  commendations  of  the 
system  appear  to  me  rather  to  resemble  the  pleadings 
of  an  advocate,  than  those  enlightened  and  philosophical 
views  which  characterise  his  works  in  general.  Obe- 
dience and  deference  to  authority  are  held  forth  as  if 

*  Principles  of  University  Education,  London,  1837,  ch.  i.  sect.  4. 

21 


1: 

( 

fi. 


242 


ADVOCACY    OF    THE 


Chap.  xiii. 


\ 

.■i^oS 

i 

'II 

■> 

V    ^ 

^ 

I'- 

' 

m 

';»* 

they  were  the  chief  and  almost  sole  moral  virtues  to  be 
instilled  into  the  minds  of  young  academicians.  The 
students  are  treated  more  as  boys  and  children  than  as 
men  on  the  very  point  of  entering  on  their  several 
duties  in  Hfe,  and  who  ought,  without  loss  of  time, 
to  be  acquiring  habits  of  thinking  and  judging  for 
themselves. 

"  Mathematical  doctrines  are  fixed  and  permanent," 
says  the  historian  of  the  Inductive  Sciences,  of  whose 
remarks  on  this  subject  I  shall  give  a  brief  abstract  in 
his  own  words.  "  The  old  truths  will  always  be  true. 
In  philosophical  doctrines  a  constant  change  is  going 
on.  The  old  system  is  refuted,  and  a  new  one  is  erected. 
There  is  nothing  old,  nothing  stable.  The  student 
cannot  but  suspect  that  his  teacher  and  his  teacher's 
creed  are  but  for  a  day.  The  mind  of  a  young  man 
employed  in  attending  to  teachers  of  this  kind  must 
fail  to  acquire  any  steady  conviction  of  the  immutable 
and  fixed  nature  of  truth.  He  becomes  a  restless 
speculator,  criticising  what  has  already  been  done  in 
philosophy,  attempting  to  guess  what  will  be  the  next 
step.  He  is  placed  in  the  condition  of  a  critic  instead 
of  a  pupil." — "  In  mathematics,  the  teacher  is  usually 
the  superior  of  his  scholar,  who  entertains  a  docile  and 
confiding  disposition  towards  his  instructor.  He  cannot 
give  or  refuse  his  assent  when  a  system  is  proposed  to 
him,  nor  feel  in  the  situation  of  an  equal  and  a  judge. 
The  subjects  suitable  for  university  teachitig  are  the 
undoubted  truths  of  mathematics,  and  works  of  un- 
questioned excellence,  such  as  the  best  classical  authors. 
When  engaged  in  these,  the  student  respects  his 
instructor ;  they  are  the  fit  subjects  of  college  lec- 
tures.    A  spirit  of  criticism  is  awakened  by  the  study 


for 


Chap.  xiii. 


CAMDllIDGE    SYSTEM. 


243 


of  philosopliy,  which  is  a  fit  subject  of  professorial 
lecluics.''* 

In  coniiuonting  on  the  above  passages,  I  cannot 
refrain  fr.nn  remarking-,  that  if  the  teacher  of  philosophy 
cannot  command  the  respect  of  his  pupils,  he  must  be. 
ill-qualified  for  his  post.  No  one  who  is  master  of  his 
favourite  science  will  fail  to  inspire  the  minds  of  his 
more  intellectual  scholars  with  a  love  of  what  he 
teaches,  and  a  regard  and  admiration  for  their  instruc- 
tor. "  Addicti  jurare  in  verba  magistri,"  they  will  be 
only  too  prone  to  prefer  Plato  to  truth,  and  defend  the 
professor's  theory,  even  when  he  himself  has  seen 
reason  to  modify  it  in  accordance  with  new  facts  and 


reason  mgs. 


When  we  inquire  by  what  kind  of  training  young 
men  can  best  be  prepared,  before  leaving  the  university, 
to  enter  upon  the  study  or  practice  of  their  professions, 
whether  as  lawyers,  physicians,  clergymen,  schoolman 
tcrs,  tutors,  or  legislators,  can  we  assent  to  the  notion 
that,  by  confining  instruction  to  pure  mathematics,  or 
the  classical  writers,  more  especially  if  the  latter  are 
not  treated  in  a  critical  spirit,  we  shall  accomplish  this 
end?  Do  not  thesr  belong  precisely  to  the  class  of 
subjects  in  which  ther<  is  least  danger  of  the  student's 
ffoinjr  wron?,  even  if  he  engages  in  them  at  home  and 
alone?  Should  it  not  be  one  of  our  chief  objects  to 
prepare  liim  to  form  sound  opinions  in  matters  con- 
nected with  moral,  political,  or  physical  science  ?  Here, 
indeed,  he  needs  the  aid  of  a  trustworthy  guide  and 
director,  who  shall  teach  him  to  weigh  evidence,  point 
out  to  him  the  steps  by  which  truth  has  been  gradually 
attained  in  the  inductive  philosophy,  the  caution  to  l)e 

•  University  Education,  pp.  46 — 53. 


If"^ 

v 

1     l'" 

t 

I 


Hh 


J^ 


244 


ENGLISH    UNIVERSITY    SYSTEM.       Chap.  xiu. 


used  in  collecting  facts  and  drawing  conclusions,  the 
prejudices  which  are  hostile  to  a  fair  inquiry,  and 
who,  while  his  pupil  is  interested  in  the  works  of  the 
ancients,  shall  remind  him  that,  as  knowledge  is  pro- 
gressive, he  must  avail  himself  of  the  latest  acquisitions 
of  his  own  agc^  in  order  to  attain  views  more  compre- 
hensive and  correct  than  those  enjoyed  even  by  prede- 
cessors of  far  superior  capacity  and  genius. 

It  may  appear  strange,  that  while  such  great  sacri 
fices  of  time  are  made  in  England  to  the  exclu?:ive 
cultivation  of  classics,  a  larger  proportion  of  the  best 
modern  editions  of  Greek  and  Latin  are  not  the  fruit  of 
British  scholarship.  The  cause,  however,  is  easily  ex- 
plained. The  highest  excellence  in  literature  or  in 
science  can  only  result  from  a  life  perseveringly  devoted 
to  one  department.  Such  unity  of  purpose  and  con- 
centration of  power  is  wholly  inconsistent  with  ouv 
academical  machinery  of  tuition. 

The  panegyrists,  indeed,  of  the  modern  university 
system  in  England,  seem  never  to  admit  candidly  this 
plain  truth,  that  the  colleges  have  no  alternative  in  re- 
gard to  the  course  of  study  open  to  them.  Take  any 
flourishing  university  in  Great  Britain  or  on  tlie  Conti- 
nent, Berlin,  for  example,  or  Bonn,  or  Edinburirb, 
where  a  wide  range  of  sciences  are  taught.  Let  the 
students  be  divided  into  fifteen  or  more  sections,  with- 
out any  classification  in  reference  to  their  age,  acquire- 
ments, talents,  tastes,  or  future  prospects.  Assign  to 
each  section  a  separate  set  of  teachers,  chielly  clerical, 
and  looking  forward  to  preferment  in  the  Church  ;uul 
public  schools,  and  from  them  select  all  your  public  ex- 
aminers. What  must  be  the  result?  Tiie  immediate 
abandonment  of  three   fourths   of  the   sciences   now 


dr< 


Chap.  xiii.      ENGLISH    UW7VERSITY   S  VST  EM. 


245 


;  M 


taught,  while  those  retained  will  belong  of  necessity  to 
the  less  piogressive  branches  of  human  knowledge. 
Under  conditions  so  singular  as  tiiose  now  imposed  on 
Oxford  and  Cambridge,  I  am  ready  to  join  their  warm- 
est eulogists,  and  to  contend  that  their  plan  of  education 
is  the  best. 

In  the  treatise  on  the  universities,  before  alluded  to, 
there  are  hints  thrown  out  on  the  "  ignoble  influence 
of  compulsory  examinations,  which  act  on  the  fears 
rather  than  on  the  hopes  of  young  men,"  and  which 
have  "drawn  off  many  students  from  professorial  lec- 
tures ;"  on  "examiners  not  habitually  pursuing  partic- 
ular studies,  and  whose  knowledge,  therefo'e,  has  no 
fulncds,  richness,  depth,  or  variety  ;"  also  "«  private 
tutors  having  no  ostensible  and  responsible  situation  in 
the  university,  and  the  tendency  of  modern  changes  to 
throw  the  whole  academical  education  into  their  hands 
and  those  of  the  public  examiners  (ibid.  ch.  ii.) ;  which 
may  lead  us  to  infer  that  the  optimism  of  the  Master 
of  Trinity  is  not  of  that  uncompromising  kind  which 
should  make  us  despair  of  his  co-operation  in  all  future 
academical  reforms. 

In  considering  the  present  state  of  feeling  towards 
science  and  its  cultivators  in  England.  I  cannot  refrain 
from  citing  a  passage  (with  the  leave  of  both  the  coi- 
respondcnts)  from  a  letter  dated  February,  1845,  ad- 
dressed by  Professor  liiebig  to  Mr.  F'araday  : — 

"  What  struck  me  most  in  England  was  the  percep- 
tion that  only  those  works  that  have  a  practical  ten- 
dency awake  attention,  and  command  respect,  while 
the  purely  scientific,  which  possess  far  greater  merit,  are 
almost  unknown.  And  yet  the  latter  are  the  proper 
and  true  source  from  which  the  others  flow.     Practice 

2V 


246 


UTILITARIAN    SPIRIT. 


Chap,  xin 


alone  can  never  lead  to  the  discovery  of  a  truth  or  a 
principle.  In  Germany,  it  is  quite  the  contrary.  Here, 
in  the  eyes  of  scientific  men,  no  value,  or  at  least  but  a 
trifling  one,  is  placed  on  the  practical  results.  The 
enrichment  of  science  is  alone  considered  worthy  of  at- 
tention. I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  this  is  better ;  for 
both  nations  the  golden  medium  would  certainly  be  a 
real  good  fortune." 

What  I  have  said  of  the  method  and  course  of  in- 
struction now  pursued  in  our  principal  universities  will, 
I  think,  explain  in  no  small  degree  the  prevalence  of 
the  utihtarian  spirit,  so  correctly  pointed  out  by  this  dis- 
tinguished foreigner,  and  the  want  of  a  due  apprecia- 
tion of  the  higher  and  more  difficult  departments  of 
philosophical  research.  From  what  source  is  the  public 
at  large,  whether  belonging  to  the  upper  or  middle 
classes,  to  imbibe  a  respect  and  voncratinu  for  those 
who  are  engrossed  in  the  pursuit  of  pliilosopliicnl  truth, 
and  who  live  excluded  from  active  life,  if  they  who 
direct  imiversity  education  do  not  foster,  nay,  if  they 
positively  discourage,  the  teacliing  of  the  progressive 
sciences?  How  can  the  multitude  learn,  that,  for  one 
mind  willing  or  capable  of  patiently  working  out  nnd 
discovering  a  new  truth  or  principle,  there  nre  hundreds 
w^ho  can  apply  to  practice  these  principles,  when  once 
ascertained?  Nothing  can  be  more  short-sighted, 
therefore,  even  on  purely  utilitarian  grounds,  than  the 
usual  policy  of  the  herd  of  cvi  bono  philosophers,  who 
award  higher  honours  and  emoluments  to  the  applica- 
tion than  to  the  discovery  of  scientific  principles. 

It  is  truly  fortunate  that,  in  proportion  as  Oxford  and 
Cambridge  have  withdrawn  their  countenance  more 
and  more  from  studies  connected  with  piiysical  science 


Chap.  xtii. 


ACADEMICAL    REFORM. 


247 


and  natural  history,  the  wants  of  a  high  state  of  civil- 
ization, and  the  spirit  of  the  age,  have  atlbrded  to  them 
in  England  an  annually  increasing  patronage.  It  is 
felt  that  astronomy  is  indispensable  to  navigation, 
chemistry  to  agriculture  and  various  arts,  geology  to 
mining,  botany  to  medicine,  and  so  of  other  depart- 
ments. If  the  practical  connection  of  any  branch  of 
science  be  not  obvious,  as  in  the  case  of  zoology,  scarce- 
ly any  encouragement  \6  given  to  it  in  any  English 
place  of  education  ;  but  even  here,  fortunately,  the 
Biitish  Museum  and  the  College  of  Surgeon!^,  by  their 
extensive  collections,  step  in,  and  in  some  degree  supply 
the  deficiency. 

After  the  rejection  at  Oxford  of  the  moderate  meas- 
ure of  reform  proposed  in  1830,  for  combining  together 
the  professorial  and  tutorial  systems,  we  can  scarcely 
hope  that  any  movement  from  within  will  effect  flie 
changes  so  loudly  called  for.  Time  will,  year  after 
year,  remove  the  older  members  of  Convocation,  who 
are  favourable  to  more  enlarged  views,  and  will  replace 
them,  it  must  be  feared,  by  the  avowed  |iarti:f^ans  of  the 
narrower  system  of  study,  adopted  in  more  modern 
limes,  and  under  which  they  have  been  brought  up. 
Appeal  under  such  circuinstances  must  therefore  be 
made  to  an  external  authority.  A  royal  commission 
like  those  which  have  more  than  once  visited  of  late 
years  the  universities  of  Scotland,  might  prove  a  sufri- 
cient  counterpoise  to  the  power  and  vis  inertim  of  forty 
learned  corporations.  They  might  suggest  such  reme- 
dies as  the  licensing  of  new  Halls,  the  removal  of  tests 
on  matriculation,  tiie  awarding  of  honorary  distinctions 
for  proficiency  in  the  subjects  of  the  professorial  lectures, 
aad  many  others,  which  would  doubtless  be  welcomed 


■i    % 


248 


ACADEMICAL    REFORM. 


Chaf.  xm. 


by  the  more  enlightened  members  of  Convocation. 
Fortnnatel}'^,  no  violent  innovations  are  called  for,  no 
new  endowments,  or  grants  of  money.  The  commis- 
sioners would  have  to  recommend  the  renovation  of 
what  has  fallen  into  disuse — the  improvement  of  the 
old  rather  than  the  introduction  of  new  and  experimen- 
tal systems  ;  they  would  have  to  give  force  to  existing 
academical  statutes,  now  inoperative,  rather  than  to 
enact  new  laws.  They  might  undertake  university 
reform  in  the  temper  recommended  by  Dr.  Whewell 
(p.  138.),  "  bringing  to  the  task  a  spirit,  not  of  hatred, 
but  of  reverence  for  the  past,  not  of  contempt,  but  of 
gratitude  towards  our  predecessors."  No  new  foun- 
tains of  knowledge  are  to  be  sought  for  in  the  deptlis 
of  the  earth  ;  tiiey  are  already  at  the  surface,  ready, 
on  the  removal  of  impediments,  to  overflow  and  fertil- 
ize the  soil.  When  Lord  Hastings  conquered  Delhi 
in  1817,  he  found  an  extensive  wilderness  near  that 
city,  sterile,  and  parched  up  by  the  sun's  heat,  which 
had  once  been  cultivated  and  populous  ;  for  in  ancient 
times  it  had  been  irrigated  by  canals  which  brouglit 
the  waters  of  the  Jumna  from  a  distance  of  250  miles. 
The  empire  which  had  left  these  monuments  of  its  an- 
cient grandeur  had  long  passed  away,  and  having  fall- 
en to  pieces,  had  formed  a  multitude  of  smaller  king- 
doms, each  governed  by  feebler  rulers.  In  a  few  years, 
by  the  aid  of  several  thousand  labourers,  directed  by 
skilful  engineers,  these  ancient  watercourses  were  re- 
paired. They  had  been  dry  for  two  centuries  and  a 
half;  and  on  the  day  appointed  for  the  copious  streams 
to  flow  once  more  through  the  streets  of  the  ancient 
metropolis,  the  Hindoo  priests  went  forth  in  solemn 
procession,  while  troops  of  virgins  threw  garlands  of 


Chap.  xiii. 


EXCLUSIVE    SYSTEM. 


24U 


flowers  into  the  waters  as  they  advanced.  It  was  a 
day  of  national  jubilee  and  thanksgiving,  for  the  liand 
of  a  foreign  power  liad  restored  to  tliein  tlie  works  of 
their  forefathers. 

But  our  ancient  seats  of  learning,  it  will  be  said,  so 
far  from  being  depopulated,  are  full  to  overflowing. 
Oxford  annually  refuses  to  admit  new  students,  because 
more  cannot  be  accommodated  within  the  college  walls. 
Doubtless,  the  colleges  are  full,  blit  can  this  be  said  of 
the  university?  Have  Oxford  and  Cambridge  kept 
pace,  since  the  commencement  of  the  present  century, 
with  the  growth  of  the  population,  wealth,  and  desire 
of  education,  in  the  British  empire  J  So  many  millions 
have  been  added  to  our  population,  that  the  clergy  have, 
of  necessity,  increased  in  number,  and  the  English 
bishops  have  more  generally  required  academical  de- 
crees before  ordination.  This  alone  has  caused  a  con- 
siderable  augmentation  of  students.  But  is  it  not 
notorious  that  the  expensive  style  of  living,  and  the 
exclusion  of  branches  of  instruction  coimected  with  the 
future  professions  and  individual  tastes  of  students, 
have  kept  down  the  number  of  academicians  ?  The 
sons  of  the  aristocracy,  and  future  divines,  who,  if  poor, 
may  eke  out  their  academical  income  with  scholarships 
and  other  endowments,  constitute  the  mass  of  the 
undergraduates.  The  colleges  have  no  desire  to  nml- 
tiply  the  number  of  their  pupils ;  they  have  already  as 
many  as  they  can  teach.  The  academical  fees,  and 
the  cost  of  board  and  lodging,  are  very  reasonable ;  but 
the  style  of  living  is  so  high,  that  students  with  small 
incomes  feel  themselves  in  a  false  position  :  and  this 
objection  has  operated  far  more  than  religious  tests  to 
check  the  natural  increase  of  the  universities. 


250 


EXCLUSIVE    ACADEMICAL 


Chap.  xiii. 


Why,  it  may  be  asked,  should  we  crowd  all  the 
British  youth  int)  two  ancient  seats  of  loaininj^  ?  Wliy 
not  promote  the  growth  of otl'-r institutions  in  London, 
Durham,  Scotland,  Wales,  and  Ireland  /  That  sucli 
competition  should  he  encouraged,  I  fully  admit ;  but  it 
will  still  be  desirable  that  Oxford  and  Cambridge  should 
expand  freely,  and  that  they  should  cease  to  serve  as 
models  of  an  exclusive  and  sectarian  principle.  Before 
the  Reformation  their  Spirit  was  catholic  and  national: 
since  that  period,  they  have  dwindled,  not  into  theo- 
logical seminaries,  for  they  have  never  in  practice 
afforded  a  complete  professional  course  for  divinity  stu- 
dents, but  into  places  for  educating  the  clergy  of  the 
Established  Church,  and  the  aristocratic  portion  of  the 
laity  professing  the  same  form  of  Christianity.  Such 
a  system,  coupled  with  the  abandonment  of  professional 
studies  in  general,  tends  to  dissever  throughout  the 
country  men  of  different  callings,  creeds,  and  profes- 
sions. It  has  a  dissociating  influence.  It  separates 
during  the  period  of  youth  the  nobility  and  gentry  from 
the  higher  portion  of  the  middle  classes,  the  barrister 
from  the  attorney,  the  physician  from  the  surgeon,  the 
legislators  and  lawyers  of  England  from  those  civilians 
to  whom  the  government  of  eighty  millions  in  India  is 
to  be  consigned,  the  members  of  the  Anglican  church 
from  the  Romanists  of  Stonyhurst  or  the  Dissenters  of 
Hackney,  the  civil  engineers  of  Putney  from  the  medi- 
cal students  of  London.  It  disunites  these  and  other 
sections  of  the  same  community,  and  throws  them  into 
antagonist  masses,  each  keeping  aloof  from  the  other 
in  cold  and  jealous  seclusion,  each  cherishing  sectarian 
or  party  animosities,  or  professional  and  social  prejudices. 
Complaints  are  often  heard,  and  not  without  reason,  of 


,  1.  ?T 

St 


Ciur.  ziii. 


SYSTEM    OP    ENGLAND. 


251 


I   *1 


the  harsh  ouUines  that  often  separate  the  difPerent 
grades  of  society  in  this  country.  It  is  in  the  season 
of  youth,  and  when  men  are  engaged  in  the  common 
pursuit  of  knowledge, — especially  if  allowed  as  far  as 
possible  to  follow  the  bent  of  their  own  tastes  and 
genius, — that  friendships  might  easily  be  formed  lending 
to  soften  these  hard  outhnes.  At  college,  they  would 
be  brought  together  on  neutral,  and  usually  on  friendly 
ground,  where  kindly  feelings  and  sympathies  would 
spring  up  spontaneously,  and  would  be  cherished  in 
after-life  by  congenial  souls,  however  distant  the  station, 
or  distinct  the  religious  opinions  or  professional  employ- 
ments of  the  former  fellow-students.* 

*  While  these  sheets  were  passing  through  the  press,  an  important 
discussion  took  place  in  the  House  of  Commons,  in  consequence  of  a 
motion  made  April  10th,  1845,  by  Mr.  Christie,  M.  P.  for  Weymouth, 
for  a  royal  commission  of  enquiry  into  the  state  of  education  in  the 
English  universities.  I  have  added  and  altered  nothing  since  reading 
this  debate,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  while  there  is  a  coincidence  in 
some  of  my  views  with  those  so  ably  advocated  by  many  of  the  par- 
liamentary speakers,  there  are  other  grounds  taken  up  by  me  to  which 
they  have  not  alluded. 


END  OF  THE  FIRST  VOLUME. 


